Contour line future weather patterns. Isobars are commonly used in television weather reporting. Isallobars are lines joining points of equal pressure change during a specific time interval. These can be divided into "anallobars", lines joining points of equal pressure increase during a specific time interval, and "katallobars", lines joining points of equal pressure decrease. In general, weather systems move along an axis joining high and low isallobaric centers. Isallobaric gradients are important components of the wind as they increase or decrease the geostrophic wind. An isopycnal is a line of constant density. An "isoheight" or "isohypse" is a line of constant geopotential
Contour line Contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional graph of the function "f"("x", "y") parallel to the "x", "y" plane. In cartography, a contour line (often just called a "contour") joins points of equal elevation (height) above a given level, such as mean sea level. A contour map is a map illustrated with contour lines, for example a topographic map, which thus shows valleys