Difference between Altitude and Height

There are several systems that are in place in different regions for the purpose of calculating distance between two spots. The distance can be horizontal, vertical and diagonal. In some cases, it is very important that the precise distance is calculated and recorded without error.

There are ways to calculate distance in a relationship to things around them. These calculations are used in different fields of life and are very important. Many industries rely on accurate measurements to handle various calibrations and potential production parameters.

When it comes to vertical distances, you will often come across the two terms of height and altitude. These two are very similar in nature and people often use them interchangeably. Both are used in various fields and can have variations within the measure. However, there are certain variations between the two that make them different to each other. In essence height and altitude can be compared to how tall or high something is.

Height is a term that is generally used to describe the measurement of how tall an object is or how high it is placed. Altitude is generally used for measurements that are related with aviation, geometry and geography along with some other fields. Both are very important measurements which are needed to figure out how high something or someone is.

Height is measured from the ground up whereas the altitude is calculated from Datum which is used to indicate the actual place on Earth where that object is located.

Instructions

  • 1

    Altitude

    The term is used in many fields and has a slight variation of meaning in all of them. Some of the variations are actually altitude which is the distance from sea level, absolute altitude which is the distance from the ground and pressure altitude which is the alleviation from the standard datum air pressure plane.

    You will generally hear about altitude in the aerospace or aviation industry as it is regularly used.

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    Height

    It is used in several fields of life including geology, geodesy and aviation.  It is calculated in terms of the height from sea level in case of calculating a distance or the total vertical length of an object in other cases.

    It is quite a common term which is generally used for the purpose of calculating height of a person or an object. We come across this measurement almost everyday as the height of a person is an important indicator which is constantly used.

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