Plain English Meaning

What the ground looks like — the hills, valleys, rivers, and overall lay of the land shown on the chart.

Full Definition

The shape and physical features of the land surface, including the elevation, contour, and arrangement of mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, lakes, and other natural and man-made features. On sectional charts, topography is depicted using contour lines, color-coded elevation tints, and symbols that show terrain relief and ground features.

Context Anchor

Seen on sectional charts when reading terrain height, land features, and visual checkpoints along a planned route.

Derivation

From the Greek topos (place) and graphein (to write or describe). Literally 'description of a place.' On a sectional chart, the topography section is the chart's description of what the ground actually looks like beneath the .