How to Determine Land Slopes
Measuring land slope is an essential ability for tasks from land surveying to measuring the grade of a mountain road. Although the real-world applications can be somewhat complicated, the calculations themselves are relatively simple, comparing the total elevation change with the horizontal change between two points. With careful measurements and basic understanding of trigonometric functions, you can calculate the exact degree of any slope. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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1
Choose the area where you want to determine the land slope. Choose an area of consistent slope. The locations where elevation lines come closest together are steep slopes; where the lines are farthest apart are the shallowest slopes.
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2
Draw a straight line that connects two topographical lines. The two lines do not have to be adjacent; they can have one or more other lines between them. Make sure the line is completely straight, or your calculations will be inaccurate.
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3
Use the ruler to measure the exact distance of the line segment. Measure from the intersections of the line segment with the topographical lines.
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Use the key of the map to convert the measurement of your line segment to a real-world distance. For example, if the map is drawn to a scale of 10 miles to one inch and your line segment is 1/2 inch, the real distance is five miles.
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5
Subtract the height of the lower elevation line from the height of the higher elevation line to determine the exact vertical rise/fall.
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Convert the resulting figures as necessary to obtain consistent units. Usually the easiest measurement is feet. (5,280 feet = 1 mile)
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Divide the vertical measurement by the horizontal measurement to determine the total land slope in percentage terms.
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