Terrain and Maximum Elevation Figures

The sectional shows terrain with contour lines, shaded relief, color tints, spot elevations, and maximum elevation figures. Contour lines join points of equal elevation. Here they are every 500 feet, with 250-foot intermediate lines. Lines close together mean a steep slope. Lines far apart mean a gentle one.

Shaded relief shows the terrain as if it were lit from the northwest. Color tints show elevation bands, from light green near sea level to dark brown in the high mountains. Spot elevations mark high points, in feet MSL. Junipero Serra Peak, south of Salinas, is 5,880 feet.

The ticked lines of latitude and longitude divide the chart into blocks. Each block has a maximum elevation figure, or MEF. The large digit is thousands of feet and the small digit is hundreds. This 62 means 6,200 feet MSL. The MEF covers the highest known terrain or obstacle in the block, plus margins. Here, 5,880 plus 100 for error, plus 200 for unknown obstacles, rounds up to 6,200.

Around Salinas, the MEF is 39, or 3,900 feet. MEFs are not checked by field surveys. Always fly with the current chart.