Ever look at a topographic or shaded elevation map and get momentarily confused if a feature is part of a mountain or valley? These images employ a method called red relief image mapping, invented by Tatsuro Chiba from Asia Air Survey in hopes of addressing ambiguities sometimes found in old methods of elevation visualizations.

The benefit of this visualization method is that there is no question about what is up or down. The more white something is, the more convex it is—like the pointy summit of a mountain or ridge line. The more black something is, the more concave it is, like a canyon or valley. The more steep the slope is, the more red (or colored) it is. The less steep the slope, the less saturated. With these coupled aspects, steepness and concavity, we arrive at these beautiful relief images.

Finding the right datasets and tools to actually make these turned out to be quite the process, involving some unwanted software updates and GIS downloads, but the end results seem to be worth it. The image above depicts the volcanic flows on the western flank of Mount Shasta, shedding insights on this landscape that are otherwise entirely unapparent from visible satellite imagery. I put this together using elevation data from The National Map—a project by the USGS to map the entire USA’s elevations to a 1 meter resolution.

Curve in the Virgin River around Angel’s Landing, with numerous slot canyons visible. Without trees and shadows like in traditional imagery, this visualization method more easily allows for the mapping and study of slot canyons.

Western tip of Catalina Island: it’s easy to see the island’s central ridge line, along with erosion scars and seasonal channels.

The upper slopes of Mount Baker are cloaked in glaciers, which themselves are often covered in snow. Here, crevasses are much more apparent, which give light to how the glaciers flow and deform. Seracs, shearing, transverse crevasses, etc. are now v… — The upper slopes of Mount Baker are cloaked in glaciers, which themselves are often covered in snow. Here, crevasses are much more apparent, which give light to how the glaciers flow and deform. Seracs, shearing, transverse crevasses, etc. are now very easy to identify.

DEM data from The National Map, USGS. 2020. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.