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Posted on April 18, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)

What type of map shows rainfall?

Natural Environments

Thematic maps display specific data, such as the average rainfall distribution for an area or the distribution of a certain disease throughout a county.

What is in a topographic map?

A topographic map is a detailed and accurate illustration of man-made and natural features on the ground such as roads, railways, power transmission lines, contours, elevations, rivers, lakes and geographical names.

What is a topographic map used for?

A topographic map is a map illustrating the topography or shape of the land surface. Topographic maps show the locations and form of hills, valleys, streams, and other features as well as many man-made landmarks. They illustrate the shape and elevation of surface features by the use of contour lines.

What is an example of a topographic map?

While a road map shows where a road goes, a topographic map shows why. For example, the road bends in order to go around a hill or stops at the top of a mountain. On a contour map: Each contour line represents a specific elevation and connects all the points that are at the same elevation.

What is a topographic map called?

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.

What is the definition for topographic?

Definition of topographical



1 : topographic. 2 : of, relating to, or concerned with the artistic representation of a particular locality a topographical poem topographical painting.

What pattern do topo lines make around hills and mountains?

Cliffs or overhangs are exceptions.] – Half Dome is a large and steep-sided hill referred to as a mountain. ? What pattern do topo lines make around hills and mountains? [Hills are concentric circles or closed figures.]

Why do contour lines never cross?

Contour lines never cross.



They may come very close to each other (e.g. along a cliff), but by definition they may never cross each other. * This is because one location on the surface of Earth cannot be at two different elevations!

What is the elevation of the topo line atop Half Dome?

2,800 feet

The yellow line marks the ascent from Nevada Fall to the top of Half Dome. This stretch is 4.4 miles (7 km) long and climbs 2,800 feet (850 meters).

What will a hill look like on a topographic map?

When contour lines form closed loops, there is a hill. The smallest loops are the higher elevations on the hill. The larger loops encircling the smaller loops are downhill. If you look at the map, you can see Cady Hill in the lower left and another, smaller hill in the upper right.

What do the colors mean on a topographic map?

The colors of the lines usually indicate similar classes of information: topographic contours (brown); lakes, streams, irrigation ditches, and other hydrographic features (blue); land grids and important roads (red); and other roads and trails, railroads, boundaries, and other cultural features (black).

What are 10 symbols on a topographic map?

Topographic Map Legend and Symbols

  • Brown lines – contours (note that intervals vary)
  • Black lines – roads, railroads, trails, and boundaries.
  • Red lines – survey lines (township, range, and section lines)
  • Blue areas – streams and solid is for larger bodies of water.
  • Green areas – vegetation, typically trees or dense foliage.

What are the dark lines on a topographic map called?

Contour lines are generally illustrated as a brown line. Individual contour lines on a topographical map are a fixed interval of elevation apart known as a contour interval.

What is every 5th contour line called?

index contour

To make topographic maps easier to read, every fifth contour line is an index contour. The index contour lines are the only ones labeled. The index contours are a darker or wider line in comparison to the regular contour lines. Elevations are marked on the index contour lines only.

What do blue contour lines mean?

What do the colors on the topographic map represent? ■ Blue lines/shapes – represent water. features, such as streams and lakes. ■ Brown – contour lines.

Are contour lines?

Contour lines are lines drawn on a map with equal elevation points, so elevation would be constant if you followed the contour line physically. The elevation and terrain shape of the contour lines shows. It is useful because they show the form of the land surface on the map–its topography.

What do V shaped contour lines represent?

The “V” shape contours indicate streams and drainage. As you can see, the “V” points uphill to a higher elevation. Generally, you can connect the apexes of the upward-pointing, “V” shaped contour lines to delineate a stream.

How do you read contours?

How To Read Contour Lines

  1. Index lines are the thickest contour lines and are usually labeled with a number at one point along the line. …
  2. Intermediate lines are the thinner, more common, lines between the index lines. …
  3. Supplementary lines appear as dotted lines, indicating flatter terrain.

How do you draw contours?

Quote from video:One line is one value the lines can never touch your cross. And there's a couple already drawn on here and you notice that they do not touch each other they do not cross.

How do you draw a hill on a topographic map?

Quote from video:They need to close back on themselves creating kind of a rounded shape of some sort and that's what we see at the tops of hills.

How do you make a contour map on Google Earth?

Open Google Earth. Click File | Open, select the KML file, and click Open. The contour map is loaded and displayed over the aerial photo.



Displaying contours from Surfer in Google Earth

  1. Open Surfer.
  2. Create the map. …
  3. If available, the coordinate system information is automatically entered for the Contours layer.


How do you make a topographic map?

How do you make a topographic map? Draw a horizontal line on the graph paper that is the length of your profile line. Draw vertical lines above your starting and ending points. Label the y-axis (vertical lines) with elevations making sure that your scale goes from highest to lowest on your cross-section (see step 3).

What are some examples of topography?

Topographical Features



Examples include mountains, hills, valleys, lakes, oceans, rivers, cities, dams, and roads. Elevation – The elevation, or height, of mountains and other objects is recorded as part of topography. It is usually recorded in reference to sea level (the surface of the ocean).

How do you draw contours by hand?

Quote from video:We place each acts closer to or further from a point according to its value. Once we've located the x's. Then we can draw a smooth curve through all of the points.

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