Altitude and elevation are two terms widely used in day to day lives. These two terms can be easily confused with each other since they both describe how high a point or an object is, from a certain a reference point or level. In most cases, the reference point is the mean sea level.
Despite the similarity, these terms are completely different and also used in completely different fields of study. Therefore, it is very important to understand the difference between altitude and elevation.
Their main difference is that the term 'elevation' is used to describe the position of points or objects which are "ON" the earth’s surface whereas 'altitude' is used to describe the position of points or objects that are "ABOVE" the earth’s surface.
What is elevation?
Elevation refers to the vertical position of a point or an object that is on the earth’s surface, above the mean sea level. The term “elevation” is mostly used in fields like geography, geology, transportation, agriculture, and other earth-related fields.
What is altitude?
Altitude refers to the vertical position of a point or an object that is above the earth’s surface, above the mean sea level. The term “altitude” is mostly used in fields such as space exploration, aviation, military, and physics. For example, the term “altitude” can be used to refer to how high an airplane is flying above the mean sea level.
To understand this more, take the example of the figure below:
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| Since the house is 'on' the earth’s surface, its elevation is 300 feet above mean sea level whereas the helicopter is 'above' the earth’s surface and hence, it is at the altitude of 700 feet above mean sea level. |
Recommended: The difference between 'Elevation' and 'Depth'.
If you need to know the definition of any geographic term, word, or vocabulary found in this post, click here to be redirected to the Glossary of this blog.
The figure caption says "the helicopter is 'above' the earth’s surface and hence, it is at the altitude of 500 feet above mean sea level."
ReplyDeleteBut on the figure, the helicopter is labelled as being 700ft a.m.s.l.
Thank you for your insight. We will make the necessary corrections ASAP.
DeleteI love you picture and explanation of elevation versus altitude. We would like to use it in a video and on our web site both discussing food preservation and why you need to use a pressure canner. We would credit your site, and whomever the author is. Please let me know if this is possible. My name is Cindy Brison, and I work for Nebraska Extension (University of Nebraska-Lincoln). cbrison1@unl.edu Thank you for your consideration!
ReplyDeletethis means altitude is always greater than elevation?
ReplyDeleteNo. Not necessarily. Please refer to the second and third paragraph of the article. Elevation and altitude mean different things and therefore, they are uncomparable.
ReplyDelete