Szintvonalas

Szintvonalas is a Hungarian adjective meaning contoured or contour-based, formed from szintvonal (contour line) with the suffix -as. The term is used to describe maps, drawings, or representations that use contour lines to depict elevation and terrain relief. It denotes a method or style of visualization rather than a distinct separate product.

In cartography, a szintvonalas map displays terrain relief through lines of equal elevation, typically with a fixed contour interval that indicates the vertical difference between neighboring lines. This approach helps readers understand slopes, hills, valleys, and overall topography without relying solely on color shading. Contour lines are often labeled with elevation values, and their density increases in steeper areas, providing a sense of gradient.

The word appears widely in Hungarian geographic literature, GIS documentation, and map-making contexts. It can describe historical hand-drawn contour maps as well as modern digital representations that preserve contour information, sometimes alongside other relief representations such as hill shading or digital elevation models. Common usages include szintvonalas térkép (contour map) and szintvonalas rajz (contour drawing). The concept is akin to English terms like contour map or isoline map, serving as a standard description for elevation-based representations in geography and planning.