Topography is the study of Earth’s surface shape and features or those of planets, moons, and asteroids. It is also the description of such surface shapes and features (especially their depiction in maps).
The topography of an area can also mean the surface shape and features themselves.
In a broader sense, topography is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief but also vegetative and human-made features, and even local history and culture. This meaning is less common in America, where topographic maps with elevation contours have made “topography” synonymous with relief. The older sense of topography as the study of place still has currency in Europe.
For the purposes of this article, topography specifically involves the recording of relief or terrain, the three-dimensional quality of the surface, and the identification of specific landforms. This is also known as geomorphometry. In modern usage, this involves generation of elevation data in electronic form. It is often considered to include the graphic representation of the landform on a map by a variety of techniques, including contour lines, Hypsometric tints, and relief shading.
Now standing on the deck of his newly christened Ronnie Belle Captain Ron along with Scott Jenson a fellow retired merchant marine knew that by that evening they would be heading out to sea. For Captain Ron he felt at last he was where he always belonged, at the helm of his own ship, The Ronnie Belle. As Capt. Ron was stepping into the pilot house he thought back to that one summer of ’64. It was June to be exact. The oil tanker he was on just made port in Singapore. He now realizes that for all those lovely girls in every port whose broken hearts never did recover Captain Ron has only the fondest memories of each lovely girl. The girl in Hong Kong still waits for his return. Even now at 70 Capt. Ron can still set the charm.