Elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a spacecraft in orbit.

Less commonly, elevation is measured using the center of the Earth as the reference point. Due to equatorial bulge, there is debate whether the summits of Mt. Everest or Chimborazo are at the higher elevation, as the Chimborazo summit is further from the Earth's center while the Mt. Everest summit is higher above mean sea level.

Maps and GIS

A topographical map is the main type of map used to depict elevation, often through use of contour lines.

In a Geographic Information System (GIS), digital elevation models (DEM) are commonly used to represent the surface (topography) of a place, through a raster (grid) dataset of elevations. Digital terrain models are another way to represent terrain in GIS.

To determine elevation of a place, it must be surveyed, in reference to a ground control point.

Topography

The elevation of a mountain usually refers to its summit. The elevation of a hill also refers to the summit. A valley's elevation is "usually" taken from the lowest point but is often taken all over the valley.

See also

*altitude
*geodesy
**geodesy of North America
***Sea Level Datum of 1929 later National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29)
***North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88)
*Highest mountain peaks of North America
*List of highest mountains
*List of highest towns by country
*physical geography
*summit (topography)
*topographic isolation
*topographic map
*topographic prominence
*topography

External links

* [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/ U.S. National Geodetic Survey website]
** [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS-Proxy/Glossary/xml/NGS_Glossary.xml Geodetic Glossary @ NGS]
** [http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/VERTCON/vert_con.prl NGVD 29 to NAVD 88 online elevation converter @ NGS]
* [http://www.usgs.gov/ United States Geological Survey website]
* [http://www.gsi.go.jp/ENGLISH/ Geographical Survey Institute]
* [http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/01mgg04.html Downloadable ETOPO2 Raw Data Database (2 minute grid)]
* [http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/fliers/93mgg01.html Downloadable ETOPO5 Raw Data Database (5 minute grid)]
* [http://www.bivouac.com/ bivouac.com Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.peakbagger.com/ peakbagger.com]
* [http://www.peaklist.org/ peaklist.org]
* [http://www.peakware.com/ peakware.com World Mountain Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.summitpost.org/ summitpost.org]


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  • élévation — [ elevasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • XIIIe; lat. elevatio 1 ♦ Action de lever, d élever; son résultat. Mouvement d élévation du bras. Liturg. « L élévation du Saint Sacrement que l on continuait de faire au son de la cloche » (Bossuet). Absolt Moment de la… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • élévation — ÉLÉVATION. s. f. Exhaussement. Il faut donner plus d élévation à ce plancher, à cette muraille. Une élévation de quinze à seize pieds sous poutre. f♛/b] On dit, Élévation de terrain, ou simplement Élévation, pour dire, Un terrain élevé, une… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • elevation — Elevation. s. f. Exhaussement. Il faut donner plus d elevation, à ce plancher, à cette muraille. une elevation de quatre pieds sous poutre. Elevation en termes d Architecture, Est la representation d une face de bastiment telle qu elle est faite… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Elevation — El e*va tion, n. [L. elevatio: cf. F. [ e]l[ e]vation.] 1. The act of raising from a lower place, condition, or quality to a higher; said of material things, persons, the mind, the voice, etc.; as, the elevation of grain; elevation to a throne;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Elevation — Élévation Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. En liturgie, l élévation est la mise en évidence du pain et du vin lors de la messe. En balistique, l élévation est l angle entre le plan… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Elevation — (v. lat. elevare für „erheben“) bezeichnet: die Höhe über dem Meeresspiegel Flughöhe über dem Meeresspiegel, den Höhenwinkel (der Winkel über der Horizontalebene) in der Astronomie der Winkelabstand eines Punktes am Sternhimmel von der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • elevation — late 14c., “a rising, height of something,” from O.Fr. elevation and directly from L. elevationem (nom. elevatio) a lifting up, noun of action from pp. stem of elevare (see ELEVATE (Cf. elevate)). Meaning “act of elevating” is from 1520s …   Etymology dictionary

  • elevation — [n1] height; high ground acclivity, altitude, ascent, boost, eminence, heave, hill, hillock, hoist, levitation, mountain, platform, ridge, rise, roof, top, uplift, upthrow; concepts 509,741 Ant. depression, lowness elevation [n2] advancement,… …   New thesaurus

  • elevation — Elevation, Eleuatio, voyez Eslever. L elevation de la voix, Accentus …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Elevatĭon — (v. lat. Elevatio), 1) Auf , Erhebung; daher Elevationswinkel (Höhenwinkel), der Winkel, welchen irgend eine schiefe Naturebene, z.B. ein Bergabhang, mit der Horizontalebene macht, wird durch Winkelinstrumente, am einfachsten durch den Bergmesser …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Elevation — (lat.), Erhebung, Erhöhung; in der katholischen Messe der unmittelbar auf die Konsekration (s. d.) folgende Akt. Nachdem durch diese die Transsubstantiation vollbracht ist, fällt die Gemeinde beim Erklingen des Meßglöckleins auf die Knie und… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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