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hillshading

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  1. [map design] Shadows drawn on a map to simulate the effect of the sun's rays over varied terrain.
  2. [map design] A technique used to enhance the three-dimensional appearance of terrain features that create patterns of light and shadow on the landscape. Illumination is from an imaginary light source at a specified azimuth and altitude (typically the upper-left corner of the map). Hillshading provides a sense of visual relief for cartography, and a relative measure of incident light for analysis. Media/hillshading.gif

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