Prominence

Prominence is a term used in topography to measure the height of a mountain or hill's summit by the vertical distance between it and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit. It is a measure of the independence of a summit. A peak's key col (the highest point on the lowest contour line around the peak) is a unique point on this contour line and the parent peak is some higher mountain, selected according to various objective criteria.

Definition[edit | edit source]

Prominence is defined as the height of a peak's summit above the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit. The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. The lowest point on that route is the col.

Related concepts[edit | edit source]

The following concepts are related to prominence:

Topographic elevation: The elevation of a point or object above mean sea level.
Topographic prominence: The elevation difference between a summit and its highest or key col.
Topographic isolation: The minimum great-circle distance to a point of equal elevation.

Calculation[edit | edit source]

Prominence is calculated by subtracting the elevation of the key col from the elevation of the summit. The key col for a given peak is the point with highest elevation that is located along the topographic ridge connecting the peak to any higher terrain.

References[edit | edit source]

Prominence Resources
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