Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In cartography, a contour line (often just called a "contour") joins points of equal elevation (height) above a given level, such as mean sea level. [3] A contour map is a map illustrated with contour lines, for example a topographic map, which thus shows valleys and hills, and the steepness or gentleness of slopes. [4]
Topographic maps are also commonly called contour maps or topo maps. In the United States, where the primary national series is organized by a strict 7.5-minute grid, they are often called or quads or quadrangles. Topographic maps conventionally show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines.
A topographic profile or topographic cut or elevation profile is a representation of the relief of the terrain that is obtained by cutting transversely the lines of a topographic map. Each contour line can be defined as a closed line joining relief points at equal height above sea level. [1]
contour line. Also isoline or isopleth. A line marked on a topographic map which connects points of equal elevation above or below a specified reference datum. Multiple contour lines, each representing a different elevation, are depicted together to show the shape of the terrain within the map area. [3] contour interval
A topographic map of Stowe, Vermont with contour lines This false-color satellite image illustrates topography of the urban core of the New York metropolitan area, with Manhattan at its center. Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces .
Siegfried map of Bernina Pass (1877) with black, blue and brown contour lines at 30-meter intervals. On maps produced by Swisstopo, the color of the contour lines is used to indicate the type of ground: black for bare rock and scree, blue for ice and underwater contours, and brown for earth-covered ground. [4]
Bathymetric charts showcase depth using a series of lines and points at equal intervals, called depth contours or isobaths (a type of contour line). A closed shape with increasingly smaller shapes inside of it can indicate an ocean trench or a seamount, or underwater mountain, depending on whether the depths increase or decrease going inward. [27]
Isarithmic maps, also known as contour maps or isoline maps, depict continuous quantitative fields (sometimes conceptualized as "statistical surfaces" by cartographers), such as precipitation or elevation by partitioning space into regions, each containing a consistent range of values of the field.