Topographic prominence
Vertical measurement of the independence of a summit / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Prominence" redirects here. For other uses, see Prominence (disambiguation).
In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling it but containing no higher summit within it. It is a measure of the independence of a summit. The key col ("saddle") around the peak is a unique point on this contour line and the parent peak is some higher mountain, selected according to various criteria.