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Concept
Altitude
Summary
Altitude or height is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometry, geographical survey, sport, or atmospheric pressure). Although the term altitude is commonly used to mean the height above sea level of a location, in geography the term elevation is often preferred for this usage.
Vertical distance measurements in the "down" direction are commonly referred to as depth.
Sea level#Aviation and Vertical separation (aviation)
Altitudes in aviation
In aviation, the term altitude can have several meanings, and is always qualified by explicitly adding a modifier (e.g. "true altitude"), or implicitly through the context of the communication. Parties exchanging altitude information must be clear which definition is being used.
Aviation altitude is measured using either mean sea level (MSL) or local ground level (above ground level, or AGL) as the reference datum.
Pressure altitude divided by 100 feet (30 m) is the flight level, and is used above the transition altitude ( in the US, but may be as low as in other jurisdictions). So when the altimeter reads the country-specific flight level on the standard pressure setting the aircraft is said to be at "Flight level XXX/100" (where XXX is the transition altitude). When flying at a flight level, the altimeter is always set to standard pressure (29.92 inHg or 1013.25 hPa).
On the flight deck, the definitive instrument for measuring altitude is the pressure altimeter, which is an aneroid barometer with a front face indicating distance (feet or metres) instead of atmospheric pressure.
There are several types of altitude in aviation:
Indicated altitude is the reading on the altimeter when it is set to the local barometric pressure at mean sea level. In UK aviation radiotelephony usage, the vertical distance of a level, a point or an object considered as a point, measured from mean sea level; this is referred to over the radio as altitude.
Official source
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