Vertical exaggeration
{{Short description|Scale used in relief maps}}
Vertical exaggeration (VE) is a scale that is used in raised-relief maps, plans and technical drawings (cross section perspectives), in order to emphasize vertical features, which might be too small to identify relative to the horizontal scale.{{cite web |title=Vertical Exaggeration |url=http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/topomaps/vert_ex.htm |access-date=8 November 2023 |date=11 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911125904/http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/topomaps/vert_ex.htm |archive-date=2007-09-11 }}
Scaling Factor
The vertical exaggeration is given by:
:
where VS is the vertical scale and HS is the horizontal scale, both given as representative fractions.
For example, if {{convert|1|cm}} vertically represents {{convert|200|m}} and {{convert|1|cm}} horizontally represents {{convert|4000|m}}, the vertical exaggeration, 20×, is given by:
: .
Vertical exaggeration is given as a number; for example 5× means vertical measurements appear 5 times greater than horizontal measurements. A value of 1× indicates that horizontal and vertical scales are identical, and is regarded as having "no vertical exaggeration." Vertical exaggerations less than 1 are not common, but would indicate a reduction in vertical scale (or, equivalently, a horizontal exaggeration).
Criticism
File:Venus - 3D Perspective View of Maat Mons.jpg on Venus, with vertical exaggeration used to emphasize the mountain's height.]]
Some scientists{{cite journal |last1=Morrison |first1=David |title="Flat-Venus Society" organizes |journal=Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union |date=3 March 1992 |volume=73 |issue=9 |pages=99 |doi=10.1029/91EO00076}} accessed 11 March 2019{{cite web |author=Robert Simmon |title=Elegant Figures - What Not To Do: Vertical Exaggeration |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/elegantfigures/2010/11/05/what-not-to-do-vertical-exaggeration |website=NASA Earth Observatory, earthobservatory.nasa.gov |access-date=11 March 2019 |language=en |date=5 November 2010}} object to vertical exaggeration as a tool that makes an oblique visualization dramatic at the cost of misleading the viewer about the true appearance of the landscape.
In some cases, if the vertical exaggeration is too high, the map reader may get confused.