Hypsometric tints

Regional colors is called the colored areas on wall and atlas maps, which divide an area into separate height regions. For example, is green for lowlands, light brown hill or mountain country, brown for highlands and dark brown and white for the high mountains. This term also summarizes the depths of the sea. In the school Cartography Regional colors are part of the physical map. The colors of the level surfaces ( Farbhypsometrie ) follow today in Germany most of the so-called conventional color gamut that closely follows the Spektralfarbskala.

Coloring

Different heights are symbolized by different colors. Are usual color scales correspond to the colors of the natural cover or color perception from the air. A very common scale goes from green ( like grass ) in the lowlands to yellow, brown ( cripple wood ), gray ( rock) to white ( snow), according to the following heights:

• 0-100 m Blue Green
• 100-200 m Green
• 200-500 m Yellow
• 500 -1000 m Light Brown
• 1000 - 2000 m Brown
• 2000 - 4000 m Russet
• 4000 - 5000 m brownish red
• Peak areas of white.

A shaded relief supports the depth effect.

History

For the first time translated Theodor Freiherr von Liechtenstern in 1836 and Emil von Sydow two years later Regional colors for the classroom in the new card type of the so-called physical mountain and water card that contained no political boundaries and few places orientation. At first there was only one color - brown or green - and to a color- free white surface to illustrate low and high country. The core of the display method of the relief was by sophisticated Schraffentechnik. The scale in black or brown Gebirgsschraffen without further color overpressure indicated the mountain regions. She was beginning to emphasize the responsibility of the regional color, for a defined layer height she was not. " The lowlands are ... as the basis of surveys in contrasts to these emerge ," says Sydow, and green appeared to him "fit for purpose, as it is best contrasted against the brown of the mountains ( in hatched lines ). " Lowland Brown remained in the 19th century in use. Ultimately enforced has Sydow lowland Green, commonly identified with the natural color green meadows, although it was not Sydow's " idea ", " express by the color of the ratios of animated nature. " Later it came to the introduction of 3-4 height steps with defined boundaries by the lowlands color was divided by a fine, sometimes wider, sometimes narrower line screen. The use of the two regional colors green and brown on a map in the Schraffenmanier was the exception.

Height layers

There was also a relief depicting alone along narrow down height layers in different colors without Geländeschraffierung. The Austrian Franz Ritter von Hauslab developed in 1830 a systematic color and height scale for up to seven height layers, the colors " The higher, the darker " ruled the manner of a scale according to the principle. In Germany it came to the mid-19th century to the first printed in full color physical maps with elevation levels 4-7. Based on the regional colors brighter and more saturated beige - brown tones were placed between the corner colors green and dark brown. The color richer scale house Labs did not sit through. The height map layers remained limited without a mountain lines on the century of their creation.

Breakthrough

It was not until the 1880s was the physical map with the regional colors to the basic card type of school atlases. Until then dominated the political cards. The school atlas by Carl Eduard Diercke and Gaebler 1883 marked this watershed. Free color ranges disappeared, uniform height and color scales for height layers were also common and the shaded mountain areas received a surface color. Inspired by the Austrian Karl Peucker flowed after the turn of the century the Spektralfarbskala, especially the colors yellow and red, and the color perception of the aerial perspective in the plastic -looking colors series. The regional colors, enhanced by the color yellow, were fuller and more defined. Peuckers own scale and according to their developed color rows with red as the color for the highest mountain layer as used in the wall maps of Hermann Haack, found in the German Cartography no distribution. At the end, they agreed on a preformed heard of the tradition version of Spektralfarbskala. Today, in addition to the traditional physical card a second "physical" - the natural environment - Card kicked, which makes the land cover or vegetation identified by surface colors. As guidance and orientation map the classical physical card and with it the regional colors will continue to be important.