The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks and can even be calculated for submarine summits. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, has an undefined isolation, since there are no higher points to reference.
1. Mount Everest is the highest mountain peak on Earth.
2. Aconcagua is the highest peak in both the Southern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere.
3. Denali is the highest peak of North America.
4. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak of Africa.
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface .
The term elevation is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a spacecraft in orbit, and depth is used for points below the surface.
Processed LiDAR point cloud showing not only elevation, but heights of features as well.[citation needed][clarification needed]
Sign at 8,000 feet (2,438 m) in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California (2009)
Landsat Image over SRTM Elevation by NASA, showing the Cape Peninsula and Cape of Good Hope, South Africa in the foreground.[1]