Jump to content

Comparing elevation profiles


Recommended Posts

I admit it, I'm a wuss when it comes to hills.  I grew up in

relatively flat territory and to me even the modest hills of Portland

Oregon are challenging.  So when I plan a bike ride or hike, I like to

look at elevation profiles first pick the easiest way to get

somewhere.

 

For example, a few miles from my house there's a little hill called

Mount Scott.  The summit is a bit under 1100 feet and my house is at

275, so it's less than 1000 feet of climbing.  There are numerous ways

(paved and otherwise) to get to the top.

 

Here's what a typical route with elevation profile looks like in Google Earth:

 

78ff3786-352d-49bf-8994-ef3702bdff6b.jpg

 

I'm interested in finding out from current Garmin, Lowrance, Magellan,

and DeLorme users -- is what software is available for your brand to

do this, and how would it display a profile like the one shown above?

 

If you want to post a screen shot from your software similar to the

one above, that would be the most direct comparison.  The water tower

near the top of Mount Scott is at (45.454475, -122.550558).

 

Oh, and just to make this relevant to geocaching, there ARE several

caches up there :lol:

Link to comment

Here's a really quick route and elevation plot I created using Garmin's MapSource. I created it in about 5 mins (most of that spent trying to recreate your specific route). I couldn't quite tell the streets you took, so mine's an approximation of your route, but hopefully it helps show you at least how a Garmin user would do what you're looking for.

 

Best,

CLF.

 

ElevationPlot.jpg

Link to comment

Lee,

Expert GPS, Topofusion, Garmin's Training Center, Nat Geo TOPO, all will do the same thing.

 

One thing you will find is that when you create an elevation profile from a GPS track(all working with exactly the same track), the total gain,loss, etc will vary, sometimes significantly, between softwares. Due to different degrees of smoothing,filtering, algorithims used .

Link to comment
...will vary (sometimes significantly)...
I've already noticed that even within Google Earth by itself.

 

If I profile a short route that has a very steep bit, Google Earth will show a large maximum grade as I expect. If I make a longer route that covers the same area -- where that one spot is still the steepest bit - it will often show me a LOWER maximum grade. I figure it whatever sample size may be fraction of the total route length -- and a longer sample masks some of the extremes.

Link to comment

Bit of a cross post here. I figured if I went over to DeLorme's forum I'd be more likely to find someone who had the latest version of Topo North Aemrica. So I posted a similar inquiry over there:

 

http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?f=224&t=25098

 

So now I have some useful details on Garmin Topo 2008 and DeLorme's Topo North America version 9.

Anybody got Garmin's latest 24K topo product and able to post more comparisons?

 

Magellan or Lowrance users have anything like?

Edited by lee_rimar
Link to comment

Yes, I've used GPSVisualizer and a few other online ones also. For bicycle routing I often go to Bikely.com, but more for after-ride analysis than pre-ride planning.

 

I real liking Google's implementation because of how easily/instantly it lets me see the terrain as well as the profile, with a wealth of options for different views (aerial flat, 3D elevations, USGS quads, etc)

 

If any GPS vendor's software bundle program can come close to this, it could sway my next gadget purchase decision. Leaning towards a Garmin 62 series because I can already cut stuff from Google into Basecamp, albeit only in small sections.

Link to comment

The new version of Google Earth works nicely.

 

I have a Delorme PN-30 and the Topo program does a good job of track profiles. It shows you the elevation profile calculated by both your GPSr, and from the Topo map.

 

I have used for years, National Geographic Topo, which also has a good profile feature.

 

GPS Visualizer has a tool that will add or replace the elevation numbers on your GPS track file, with numbers from topo maps. This can clean up you track file before viewing it in a map program.

 

My favorite program for logging my hikes is "SportTracks." On the screen you can see in several windows: the aerial photo of your track, the elevation profile, statistics on your hike, summaries of past hikes. It compiles your numbers over time, giving you useless but fun numbers: My hikes cumulative elevation gain totaled 65,562 feet in 2009, and 35,834 feet YTD.....

Link to comment

A DeLorme user did show me an elevation profile for the sample I posted. It did look nice, but I was a little bit disappointed with the detail. The resolution of their contour lines and elevation data doesn't seem to be as good as Google's.

 

For that matter, I wasn't impressed with the Garmin Topo 2008 sample from MapSource either; but nobody has posted an image from Basecamp with showing newer, higher-res Topo product.

Link to comment

From the help file:

In expanded view, the lower chart displays a chart of the entire route or track with range selector bars. Click and drag the range selector bars to select a different area of the chart. The upper chart displays the selected area in greater detail.

 

The 'hiker' icon shows the point selected on the profile

 

RochePerdrix3.jpg

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...