How To Label Contour Lines On A Topographic Map

Show students map images and introduce the activity. Point out the flattest and steepest areas on the crater lake map.

Constructing A Topographic Profile

Every fifth contour line is a thicker index lineat some point along that line its exact elevation is listed.

How to label contour lines on a topographic map. To make topographic maps easier to read every fifth contour line is an index contour. Instead of labeling every line we can let everyone know the vertical distance between the contour lines. Essentially topographic maps represent the three dimensional landscape of earth within the two dimensional space of a map.

Display the images of topographic or contour maps. In the example below weve added labels and it should be clear that its a depression. Make sure students understand that contour maps though 2 dimensional use contour lines to show elevation above sea level.

However if you begin to cross over contour lines you are either gaining or losing. How to label a contour line to show its elevation using civil 3d. You dont really know unless there is a label on the contour line.

Contour lines are often represented by many individual line features in a gis which can result in many more labels being placed than necessary. Select the contours to label by specifying the start and end points of the contour label line. The index contours are a darker or wider brown line in comparison to the regular contour lines.

Labeling using the contour placement style. Which trail would you take. We call that the contour interval abbreviated ci then all we do is label every fifth contour starting with the zero contour.

What do contour lines on a topographic map show. A map with contour lines on it is called a topographic map. To add single contour labels click annotate tab labels tables panel add labels menu surface contour single.

The change in elevation from one contour line to the next is always the same within the same mapmany maps have either a 40 or 80 foot contour interval. And how to draw contour lines. Topographic maps use a combination of colors shading and contour lines to represent changes in elevation and terrain shape.

Because its impractical to mark the elevation of every contour line on the map the index contour lines are the only ones labeled. We also make the labeled lines heavier. So if you walked along any contour line on a topographic map you would remain at the same elevation the entire time.

To avoid this problem line features that represent contours can be treated as special types of line features. A contour is a line that connects points of equal elevation. An 80 foot interval simply means that each contour line is 80 vertical feet away from.

Topographic maps identify terrain and elevation with the use of contour lines. But you can see it gets to be a bit messy what with all those numbers. Select the contour to label.

Contour Maps Article Khan Academy