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Hypsometric tints (also called layer tinting, elevation tinting, elevation coloring, or hysometric coloring) are colors placed between
contour lines A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional gr ...
to indicate
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...
. These tints are shown as bands of color in a graduated scheme or as a color scheme applied to contour lines themselves; either method is considered a type of Isarithmic map. Hypsometric tinting of maps and
globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...
s is often accompanied by a similar method of bathymetric tinting to convey differences in water depth.  
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History

In his map of central
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, c.1503,
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...
introduced the cartographic convention of using colored chalk to indicate changes in elevation. In the 18th century, spot heights were first interpolated to create
contour lines A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional gr ...
. In the late 1820s, was credited for the first colored contour maps using
lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
. With the invention of chromolithography, copies of colored maps became more accessible. The Scottish map firm John Bartholomew and Son is credited with popularizing the colored
contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional gr ...
technique, and their color scheme has become conventional: dark greens at low elevations, progressing through yellows and others, to browns and then grays and white at the highest elevations. At right is "The very earliest rendition of a bathymetric map of an oceanic basin. Matthew Fontaine Maury published this map in 1853 in ''Explanations and Sailing Directions to Accompany the Wind and Current Charts''."


Application

There are two primary types of hypsometric tinting: discrete and continuous. Maps with discrete hypsometric tinting have a distinct, uniform color between each of the contours, which give them a stepped appearance. The historical bathymetric map shown at the right is an example of discrete hypsometric tinting. In a map with continuous hypsometric tinting, there is a gradual shift from one tint to another, which presents a smoother appearance. This is often accomplished using data from a
digital elevation model A digital elevation model (DEM) or digital surface model (DSM) is a 3D computer graphics representation of elevation data to represent terrain or overlaying objects, commonly of a planet, moon, or asteroid. A "global DEM" refers to a discrete g ...
(DEM). Each pixel in the DEM is assigned a color which corresponds to the exact elevation at that location, so it is more precise than discrete hypsometric tinting. The colorful image of the moon has continuous hypsometric tinting. A typical color scheme progresses from dark greens for lower elevations, up through yellows/browns and on to grays and white at the highest elevations. In bathymetric tinting, lighter shades of blue represent shallower water such as the
continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...
and darker shades represent deeper regions. Similar to
false-color False color (or pseudo color) refers to a group of color rendering methods used to display images in color which were recorded in the visible or non-visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A false-color image is an image that depicts ...
imagery, hypsometric tints can be used to make geographic information more accessible, as with this image of lunar topography. Some cartographers have suggested that hypsometric tints are often used as decoration, rather than for informational purposes: Patterson, T. and Vaughn Kelso, K. (2004).
Hal Shelton Revisited: Designing and Producing Natural-Color Maps with Satellite Land Cover Data
'. Cartographic Perspectives, 47. p. 9
…the current popularity of hypsometric tints has more to do with production ease and pretty colors than it does with our interest in elevation. … With hypsometric tints, the end result is often a map with pleasing colors that blend softly into one another in an orderly fashion, a design trait that people find attractive, even if they don’t necessarily know or care about elevations.


References

{{Reflist Cartography Physical geography Color schemes