Topography
Topography is a general term in
geography, derived from the Greek "topos" and "graphein" , and refers to the lie of the
land, or various other characteristics of
Physical geography in a region; this is usually expressed in terms of the
elevation,
slope, and orientation of terrain features. The understanding of these features is an integral aspect of geography, encompassing the practice of
cartography,
surveying, and
GIS. The topography of an area often has a great influence on its [weather] and sometimes on [climate].
Maps are the most common source of topographic information.
Encyclopedia
Topography is a general term in
geography, derived from the Greek "topos" and "graphein" , and refers to the lie of the
land, or various other characteristics of
Physical geography in a region; this is usually expressed in terms of the
elevation,
slope, and orientation of terrain features. The understanding of these features is an integral aspect of geography, encompassing the practice of
cartography,
surveying, and
GIS. The topography of an area often has a great influence on its [weather] and sometimes on [climate].
Maps are the most common source of topographic information.
The term "relief", meaning "projection or standing out from the general surface", is often used to refer to the third
dimension of a
map whether in actuality , or drawn, as with
contours, hachures, shading or
colours of the territory it describes. Most
18th and early
19th century national surveys did not record relief across the entire area of coverage, calculating only spot elevations at survey points. The
United States Geological Survey topographical survey maps included contour representation of relief, and so maps that show relief, especially with exact representation of elevation, came to be called
topographic maps in the
United States, and the usage has spread internationally.
The understanding of topography is critical for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it is usually the topograhy of a place that originally determines its suitability for human settlement: settlement often leads to the creation of a family; and to the arrivel of another, separate family; and so on. Towns and cities are where they are more because of the lie of the land than for any other reason.
In terms of
environmental quality,
agriculture, and
hydrology, understanding the topography of an area enables the understanding of
watershed boundaries,
drainage characteristics,
water movement, and impacts on water quality. Complex arrays of topographic data are used as input parameters for water quality]].
Understanding topography also impinges on
soil conservation, especially in agriculture.
Contour plowing is an established practice of enabling sustainable agriculture on sloping land, and is the practice of plowing along topographic lines.
Topography is critical
militarily because it determines the ability of
armed forces to take and hold areas, and to move troops and material into and through areas.
Topography is important in determining
weather patterns. Two areas in proximity to each other geographically may differ radically in characteristics such as precipitation because of elevation differences or because of a "
rain shadow" effect.
Tectonic processes and
erosional processes are the determiners of topography. Tectonic processes such as
orogenies cause land to be elevated, and erosional processes cause land to be worn away to lower elevations.
Alternative view
The essence of Topography is the detailed recording of all the features of a place which may be of significance to the intelligent visitor.
Topography is NOT the mere record of natural geographical features and land forms.
That is the province of geography and the geographer
Topography is also concerned more and principally with the marks and changes wrought and left by previous inhabitants and visitors.
Topographers must be as interested in the local traces of ancient activity such as dwellings, fortifications, work and worship as they are in the geography and geology and any fossils therein.
The first systematic topographer was the English antiquary, John Leland . King Henry VIII gave him a warrant to search all the libraries of monasteries and colleges of the kingdom to rescue the records of ancient writers of England and other nations.
This inspired Leland to record other particulars of the places where the records were kept and which the records mentioned.
In 1546, he wrote that he had so travelled by the sea coasts and the middle parts for six years, that there was
“almost neither cape nor bay, haven, creek or pier, river or confluence of rivers, breaches, washes, lakes, meres, fenny waters, mountains, valleys, moors, heaths, forests, woods, cities, boroughs, castles, principal manor places, monasteries, and colleges, but I have seen them, and noted things very memorable”.
His intention was to make a great map of England and Wales, and to write the first detailed topographical description of them — but he died 1552.
However, his researches laid the foundations on which others were to build: Lambarde's "Perambulation of Kent" , Richard Carew's "Survey of Cornwall" written in the 1590s and George Owen's "Description of Pembrokeshire" , established in the world the science and art of Topography.
The most famous of these topographers then was Camden, who was praised by both Edmund Spenser and Ben Jonson.
The most popular sources of topography and the topographer's work are found in the classic guide books supplemented by maps.
If it is true that the United States Geological Survey which was established on March 3, 1879 called its maps "topographical" because they showed the heights or elevations above sea level then this presumably is why the word "topographical" is confused in the USA with the word "relief" in the context of geography.
As explained above, topography and matters topographical are more to do with the way a human culture exploits a place than with the forces that make the place what it is.
Geography creates a desert. It is a human culture that decides to give it the name of "desert".
Topography examines the culture of that place that arrived at the decision to give that desert that name.
See Camden at
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:x0-Kf_DxEQEJ:www.bartleby.com/213/1506.html+camden+topographer&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1
See also
