Altitude vs Elevation
Altitude and elevation are two concepts widely used in day to day lives. These two terms are usually interchangeable but are preferred in different places. Altitude is the height of an object above the mean sea level while elevation is the height of a place above mean sea level. The concepts of altitude and elevation are very important in understanding fields such as aviation, geography, geology, oceanography, navigation and even military applications. In this article, we are going to discuss what altitude and elevation are, their application, in which fields the terms altitude and elevation are used, the similarities between altitude and elevation, the definitions of altitude and elevation, and finally the difference between altitude and elevation.
Elevation
Elevation is a common word that can be seen in many places. City and town detail boards, railway stations, airports, railway lines, bus stands are some of the places that elevation is displayed. Elevation is defined as the height measured from a fixed reference point. This reference point is the mean sea level according to the mathematical model of the earth as an equally distributed mass.
Elevation is also known as the geometric height. Elevation is used to refer points placed on the surface of the earth. Heights of places such as railway stations, cities, and towns are referred as the elevation of those places. Elevation is a very important property discussed in geography.
The term “elevation” is mostly used in fields such as geography, transportation, agriculture and other earth related fields. Elevation is sometimes measured with respect to the center of the earth. In such cases, the elevation comparisons used with mean sea level as the reference point becomes confusing.
Altitude
Altitude is not a common, day to day word. The term “altitude” can be seen in airplanes, helicopters, space shuttles, rockets and other atmospheric vehicles. The term altitude has the same definition as the elevation. The definition of altitude is the height measured from a fixed reference point. Most of the time, this reference point is the mean sea level.
Altitude is a term used to identify heights of objects such as airplanes, space shuttles, rockets, atmospheric balloons and heights of places such as atmospheric layers and clouds. Altitude is used to measure the height of an object which is above the earth’s surface. The term “altitude” is mostly used in fields such as space exploration, aviation, military and physics.
Altitude vs Elevation
- Altitude is used to indicate the height of an object which is above the surface of the earth whereas elevation is used to indicate the height of an object or a place which is on the earth.
- Altitude is used in fields such as aviation, military and space exploration whereas elevation is mostly used in fields such as geography, geology and agriculture.
When I was a landscape architect student, our professors distinguished the two as elevation being the measure of vertical change on land, irrespective of sea level, and altitude as a measure of the vertical change between an object and land, such as an airplane over land. Thus, the two are not interchangeable, and “high altitude baking” truly is pie in the sky.
That said, both elevation and altitude are measured from sea level (being zero), to clarify my previous statement “irrespective of sea level”.
Elevation is usually meassured exactly, while altitude relies on some common definitons, like using the same air preassure and following an ICAO atmosphere definition. The latter implies assumptions, that might be wrong, but if all follow the same principles, they can avoid collisions in airspace. If there are ICAO conditions, the altitude would match the elevation, i.e. the reference point – that you stated – is identical.
How accurate is google earth reported elevation reading for given gps coordinate? I have a lot in central florida that happens to have a dip in the middle and FEMA is saying it’s in a flood zone. It about a 20×20 2 foot dip I want to fill.
You need to go to the FEMA website and find the flood plane map for your lot location. Their map is the gold standard regardless of what Google Earth might say. A survey grade GPS unit set up at your lot location will determine the elevation of your site. The elevation is referenced to a given epoch and datum which actually undergoes changes as our understanding of the ” geoid” improves.