What is legend on a topographical map?

United States Geologic Service (USGS) Topographic Map Key (Legend) Interpreting the colored lines, areas and other symbols is necessary in using the topographic maps. The USGS Topographic Maps use symbols or colors to represent features, and this Topographic Map Key explains what they mean.

What are the 5 colors on a topographic map?

Colors on a Topo Map

  • Red: Overprinted on significant primary and secondary roads.
  • Black: Manmade or cultural features.
  • Blue: Water-related features.
  • Brown: Contour lines and elevation numbers.
  • Green: Vegetation features.
  • White: Sparse or no vegetation.
  • Purple: Revisions that have been made to a map using aerial photos.

What do colors on maps indicate?

Blue: lakes, rivers, streams, oceans, reservoirs, highways, and local borders. Red: major highways, roads, urban areas, airports, special-interest sites, military sites, place names, buildings, and borders. Yellow: built-up or urban areas. Green: parks, golf courses, reservations, forest, orchards, and highways.

What color are used on a topographic map?

Topographic Map Colors The color brown is used to denote most contour lines on a map, which are relief features and elevations. Topographic maps use green to denote vegetation such as woods, while blue is used to denote water features like lakes, swamps, rivers, and drainage.

Where is the legend on a map?

Legends usually appear near the bottom of a map or around the outer edges, outside of or within the map. If you’re placing the legend within the map, set it apart with a distinctive border, and take care not to obscure important areas of the map.

What are the 6 colors on a map?

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topo- graphic maps are printed using up to six colors (black, blue, green, red, brown, and purple).

What are the 6 basic colors found in the map?

Maps may have more or fewer colors depending on what they are representing, but typically, the following six colors show the same topographical features across maps:

  • BROWN: CONTOUR LINES AND ELEVATION.
  • GREEN: VEGETATION.
  • BLUE: WATER.
  • BLACK: MAN-MADE OBJECTS.
  • RED: TRANSPORTATION AND RECREATIONAL AREAS.

What does yellow mean on a topographic map?

Yellow colour is used in topographical maps to represent fields of crops, arable lands or agricultural lands. It is the colour that shows areas under cultivation by man.

What is a legend on a graph?

The legend of a graph reflects the data displayed in the graph’s Y-axis, also called the graph series. This is the data that comes from the columns of the corresponding grid report, and usually represents metrics. A graph legend generally appears as a box to the right or left of your graph.

What does a key legend show you on a map?

A map legend or key is a visual explanation of the symbols used on the map. It typically includes a sample of each symbol (point, line, or area), and a short description of what the symbol means.

What is a topographic map legend?

Topographic Map Legend and Symbols The topographic maps on TopoZone were created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and have evolved for more than a century. Over time the maps became more detailed and new symbols were added for the different terrain, natural features, land boundaries, and man-made structures depicted by the surveyors.

What do the colors of the lines on a topographic map mean?

The colors of the lines usually indicate similar classes of information: topographic contours (brown); lakes, streams, irrigation ditches, and other hydrographic features (blue); land grids and important roads (red); and other roads and trails, railroads, boundaries, and other cultural features (black).

What are the different colors of USGS topo maps?

In general these are the major color categories used on USGS topo maps. Brown lines – contours (note that intervals vary) Black lines – roads, railroads, trails, and boundaries. Red lines – survey lines (township, range, and section lines) Blue areas – streams and solid is for larger bodies of water.

What are some examples of topographic map symbols?

Examples of symbols that have changed include built-up areas, roads, intermittent drainage, and some letter- ing styles. On one type of large-scale topographic map, called provisional, some symbols and lettering are hand- drawn. U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Reading Topographic Maps