{{Short description|Study of the topographic relief of mountains}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} [[File:Map of Eastern Siberia.png|thumbnail|An orographic map of Eastern Siberia from 1875 by Peter Kropotkin]]

'''Orography''' is the study of the topographic relief of mountains,<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Orography|short=x}}</ref> and can more broadly include hills, water stream directions and any part of a region's elevated terrain.<ref>[http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?p=1&query=Orography&submit=Search Orography] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214627/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?p=1&query=Orography&submit=Search |date=27 September 2007 }}). American Meteorological Society.</ref> Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology,'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discipline of geomorphology.<ref name=WDL1>{{cite web|title=Map of the Southern Half of Eastern Siberia and Parts of Mongolia, Manchuria, and Sakhalin: For a General Sketch of the Orography of Eastern Siberia|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/125/|publisher=World Digital Library|access-date=23 January 2013}}</ref> The term orography comes from the Greek: {{lang|grc|όρος}}, hill, {{lang|grc|γράφω}}, to write.

==Uses== Mountain ranges and elevated land masses have a major impact on global climate. For instance, the elevated areas of East Africa substantially determine the strength of the Indian monsoon.<ref>Srinivasan, J., Nanjundiah, Ravi S. and Chakraborty, Arindam (2005). [http://hdl.handle.net/2005/76 "Impact of Orography on the Simulation of Monsoon Climate in a General Circulation Model"]. Indian Institute of Science.</ref> In scientific models, such as general circulation models, orography defines the lower boundary of the model over land.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

When a river's tributaries or settlements by the river are listed in 'orographic sequence', they are in order from the highest (nearest the source of the river) to the lowest or mainstem (nearest the mouth).{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} This method of listing tributaries is similar to the Strahler Stream Order, where the headwater tributaries are listed as category&nbsp;1.

==Orographic precipitation== {{Main article|Orographic precipitation}} thumb|right|Orographic precipitation occurs when moist air is forced upwards by terrain. Orographic precipitation, also known as relief precipitation, is precipitation generated by a forced upward movement of air upon encountering a physiographic upland (see anabatic wind). This lifting can be caused by:

# Upward deflection of large-scale horizontal flow by the orography. # Anabatic or upward vertical propagation of moist air up an orographic slope, caused by daytime heating of the mountain barrier surface.

==See also== * Coverage (telecommunication) * Orographic lift * Rain shadow

== Citations == {{Reflist}}

== General and cited references == * {{Cite book |last=Stull |first=Roland |date=2017 |title=Practical Meteorology: An Algebra-based Survey of Atmospheric Science |url=https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/books/Practical_Meteorology/ |publisher=University of British Columbia |isbn=978-0-88865-283-6}} * {{Cite book |last=Whiteman |first=C. David |year=2000 |title=Mountain Meteorology: Fundamentals and Applications |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-513271-8}}

==External links== * [http://www.euratlas.net/geography/europe/mountains/index.html Map of the Orography of Europe] from Euratlas.com

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Category:Geomorphology