Talk:Elevation
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[edit] Elevation vs. altitude
- "Elevation is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude is used for points in the air, such as an aircraft."
In my experience, this statement is only true in US English. I've done a lot of hiking/backpacking with both British and American groups. Usually Americans seem to use "elevation", while Brits use "altitude" or "height". I've never heard "elevation" in this context in the UK (actually I didn't know the meaning of the word when I first arrived in the US). The legends on UK Ordnance Survey maps use "height above sea level". Also, I have noticed that Americans use "elevation change" while Brits use "ascent" or "descent", to quantify the gain or loss in height. However, I haven't found any documented evidence of this linguistic difference, so I'm reluctant to edit the article. Can anyone else comment? Mtford 08:32, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
- In engineering and surveying, the term elevation is most commonly used for surface features, waterways, structures, and mines. The term altitude is commonly used for elevations in the atmosphere or space. The term height is usually used to denote elevation above a reference level, such as the height of a building above the ground. --Buaidh 13:43, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Lowest point?
There are several references to highest elevations, but what about lowest elevations? All I can think of are Death Valley in the US and Lake Baikal in Russia (deepest lake). What about the lowest elevation in the world? -kotra 10:03, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Lake Elevation
What about lake elevation as used by the Army Corps of Engineers to measure water level? I assume it is the number of feet above mean sea level but don't see it discussed anywhere.
[edit] Elevation Signs
When you enter a population center in the US, there is usually a sign that shows the name and elevation. Where is that elevation measured? One thing I do know is that it is NOT measured where the sign is placed. ```` —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.243.195.217 (talk) 01:33, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Proposed merge
This article has content that is similar to the one on hypsography (the study of the distribution of elevations). Someone else might like to merge the two articles. I am just going to add merge templates to alert readers to the existence of the two related articles. JonH (talk) 08:57, 26 April 2009 (UTC)
