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Vertical Height and Altitude Definitions

Altitude
Height
Main Sea Level
Ground Level

Figure 1: Height and altitude

Altitude
Height
Main Sea Level
Ground Level

Figure 1: Height and altitude

The following words shall be used as a prefix to indicate the source of an altitude measurement:

Height Above Ground Level The airplane height above ground level (or ground clearance or vertical range) shall be the vertical distance between the airplane and the ground directly below the airplane. This distance is equal to the difference between orthometric altitude and orthometric height, and is also equal to the difference between geodetic altitude and geodetic height.

Height Above the Target The airplane height above the target (or target clearance or the target vertical range) shall be the vertical distance between the airplane and the ground elevation of a target or sensor aiming point.