topographisch

Topographisch is an adjective in German that denotes a relation to topography, the description and mapping of the surface features of the Earth's landscapes. In scientific and practical use, it describes data, maps, and analyses focused on the arrangement and representation of landforms such as elevations, contours, rivers, and land use.

The word is formed from Topographie (topography) and the suffix -isch, and is cognate with the English topographic and related terms in other Germanic languages. It is commonly used in technical fields such as geography, cartography, geology, archaeology, and urban planning.

Common expressions include topographische Karte (topographic map), topographische Vermessung (topographic surveying), and topographische Merkmale (topographic features). The term can distinguish surface-focused information from geological or geodetic analyses, which describe rock types or earth measurements rather than surface forms. In geographic information systems (GIS), topographische Daten refer to the terrain's geometry and relief.

Historically, topographic studies developed alongside cartography as methods to represent terrain for navigation, military planning, and land development. Today, topographisch remains a standard descriptor in German-language technical writing, while English texts typically use topographic rather than topographisch.