Hypsography

Hypsography studies the distribution of elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an...

s on the surface of the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...

, and is sometimes applied to other rocky planets such as Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance, due to iron oxide prevalent on its surface....

 or Venus

Venus

Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6...

. The term originates from the Greek

Greek language

Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...

 word "hypsos" meaning height. Most often it is used only in reference to elevation of land but a complete description of Earth's solid surface requires a description of the seafloor as well. Related to the term hypsometry

Hypsometry

Hypsometry is the measurement of land elevation relative to sea level. Bathymetry is the underwater equivalent. A hypsometer is an instrument used in hypsometry, which estimates the elevation by boiling water - water boils at different temperatures depending on the air pressure, and thus...

, the measurement of these elevations of a planet's solid surface are taken relative to mean

Arithmetic mean

In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean of a list of numbers is the sum of all of the list divided by the number of items in the list. If the list is a statistical population, then the mean of that population is called a population mean...

 datum, except for Earth which is usually taken relative to the mean sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation.- Measurement :...

.

Hypsography studies the distribution of elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an...

s on the surface of the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...

, and is sometimes applied to other rocky planets such as Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance, due to iron oxide prevalent on its surface....

 or Venus

Venus

Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6...

. The term originates from the Greek

Greek language

Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...

 word "hypsos" meaning height. Most often it is used only in reference to elevation of land but a complete description of Earth's solid surface requires a description of the seafloor as well. Related to the term hypsometry

Hypsometry

Hypsometry is the measurement of land elevation relative to sea level. Bathymetry is the underwater equivalent. A hypsometer is an instrument used in hypsometry, which estimates the elevation by boiling water - water boils at different temperatures depending on the air pressure, and thus...

, the measurement of these elevations of a planet's solid surface are taken relative to mean

Arithmetic mean

In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean of a list of numbers is the sum of all of the list divided by the number of items in the list. If the list is a statistical population, then the mean of that population is called a population mean...

 datum, except for Earth which is usually taken relative to the mean sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation.- Measurement :...

.