Describing elevation and relief on maps and contour lines

Elevation and elevation change can be expresses with:

Layer Tinting, form lines, shaded relief, and contour lines

What are the three basic types of contour lines:

Index, intermediate, supplementary

Index contours:

Give an elevation for the line - provides a reference for contour intervals

Intermediate Contours

contour lines that fall between the index lines - finer

Supplementary Contours

are dashed lines that show significant changes in elevation - found where there is very little change in elevation

Watershed

an area that channels water and brings water to an outflow point like a large river or lake

Why is vertical exaggeration graphs used?

applied to provide a better visual representation of the trail

In order to determine VE we need to use a formula similar to the scale formula

Vertical Exaggeration = Vertical scale/Horizontal scale (VE = VS/HS)