ascent
Difference between ascent, descent and elevation
03/04/10 19:00 Filed in: Conceptual
Problem: In the altitude histogram, TrailRunner displays three values derived from altitude values. These are named elevation, ascent and descent. What's the different between these?
Description: Elevation is the absolute difference between the highest summit and the lowest valley. It may also be named altitude difference or altitude range.
Ascent is being displayed as ascent/descent value which is the gain in only positive / negative altitude differences.
Example: With an altitude series of 12, 13, 15, 13, 11, 16 the elevation is 11..15 = 4, the ascent is 12..13..15 // 11..16 = 8 and the descent is 15..13..11 = 4
Tip: As most GPS receivers tend to be very inaccurate with the recoding of altitude data, the ascent and decent values can become unnaturally high as only small gains can sum up to huge values. In TrailRunner > Preferences > Advanced you can set a low pass filter for the ascent/descent calculation. See Filter altitude noise.
Description: Elevation is the absolute difference between the highest summit and the lowest valley. It may also be named altitude difference or altitude range.
Ascent is being displayed as ascent/descent value which is the gain in only positive / negative altitude differences.
Example: With an altitude series of 12, 13, 15, 13, 11, 16 the elevation is 11..15 = 4, the ascent is 12..13..15 // 11..16 = 8 and the descent is 15..13..11 = 4
Tip: As most GPS receivers tend to be very inaccurate with the recoding of altitude data, the ascent and decent values can become unnaturally high as only small gains can sum up to huge values. In TrailRunner > Preferences > Advanced you can set a low pass filter for the ascent/descent calculation. See Filter altitude noise.
