Terrain - Relief

Relief

Relief (or local relief) refers specifically to the quantitative measurement of vertical elevation change in a landscape. It is the difference between maximum and minimum elevations within a given area, usually of limited extent. The relief of a landscape can change with the size of the area over which it is measured, making the definition of the scale over which it is measured very important. Because it is related to the slope of surfaces within the area of interest and to the gradient of any streams present, the relief of a landscape is a useful metric in the study of the Earth's surface.

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Famous quotes containing the word relief:

    If the king is in the palace, nobody looks at the walls. It is when he is gone, and the house is filled with grooms and gazers, that we turn from the people, to find relief in the majestic men that are suggested by the pictures and the architecture.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The menu was stewed liver and rice, fricassee of bones, and shredded dog biscuit. The dinner was greatly appreciated; the guests ate until they could eat no more, and Elisha Dyer’s dachshund so overtaxed its capacities that it fell unconscious by its plate and had to be carried home.
    —For the State of Rhode Island, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    Western hospitality prevails; it is reminiscent of the kind displayed earlier here by a host who said to an unexpected guest, “Stranger, you take the wold skin and the chaw o’ sowbelly—I’ll rough it.”
    —Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)