Terrain visibility analysis
Can you see Mulhacén from Granada?
Short answer: No, from this exact point at Plaza Nueva in central Granada. Modelled terrain about 200 m east-southeast of the square blocks the line to the Mulhacén summit.
Can you see Mulhacén from Granada's Plaza Nueva? Sightelo checks the 28.8 km sight line and finds nearby terrain blocking the summit.
This result applies only to the studied point at Plaza Nueva. Moving a few hundred metres or using a higher viewpoint may change the terrain horizon; Sightelo does not assign this verdict to all of Granada.
View the calculation in SighteloKey figures
- Observation point
- Plaza Nueva, central Granada, Spain
- Latitude, longitude: 37.176850, -3.595870
- Eye height: 1.7 m
- Point of interest
- Mulhacén, Spain
- Target elevation
- 3,479 m
- Straight-line distance
- 28.8 km
- Direction to the summit
- 118.4° (east-southeast)
- Blocking terrain at
- 200 m
- Modelled summit clearance
- -2,930 m
Terrain profile and line of sight
Detailed profile
Scroll horizontally to explore the full profile on a small screen.
- Calculated terrain
- Observer–summit sight line
- Minimum visibility line
- 0 m reference (modelled curvature)
The calculated obstacle is 0.2099 km from A. It rises 21.4 m above the sight line locally; the projected deficit at the summit is 2929.8 m. These are different quantities.
The calculation models terrain, Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction. It does not model buildings, trees, clouds, haze or local atmospheric variations.
Minimum line off scale — Nearby terrain requires a minimum target altitude of 6408.8 m, above the summit's actual 3479.0 m. The minimum visibility line continues beyond the chart without changing its slope.
Calculated profile values
| Distance (km) | 28.8 km |
|---|---|
| Observer eye altitude | 697.2 m |
| Summit altitude | 3479.0 m |
| Minimum visible target altitude | 6408.8 m |
| Target margin above the modelled horizon | -2929.8 m |
| Minimum local sight-line clearance | -26.3 m |
| Displayed / calculated samples | 499 / 960 |
| Excluded around A / B | 200 m / 840 m |
| Blocking obstacle | 0.2099 km |
Audited calculation: 2026-10-16. The interactive calculator can recalculate with currently available elevation data.
What this example helps you study
Although the Sierra Nevada is close, the exact line from Plaza Nueva meets rising ground almost immediately, about 200 m from the observer. The obstruction is terrain in the Copernicus model, not a visibility judgement for every place in Granada. A different observation point can give another result.
Terrain about 200 m away defines the modelled horizon. At the Mulhacén, the summit is about 2,930 m below the minimum elevation needed to clear that horizon from this point.
Limits of interpretation
The calculation models terrain, Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction. It does not model buildings, trees, clouds, haze or local atmospheric variations.
Technical details
- Observation point coordinates
- 37.176850, -3.595870
- Summit coordinates
- 37.053330, -3.311390
- Terrain model
- Copernicus DEM 30
- Eye height
- 1.7 m
- Refraction used
- Standard (k = 0.13)
- Sample step
- 100 m
- Uncertainty threshold
- 30 m
- Observer exclusion radius
- 200 m
- Requested summit exclusion radius
- 600 m
A positive value means the summit clears the modelled terrain horizon. A negative value means the summit lies below the minimum elevation required to clear that horizon. This value is not the local height of blocking terrain above the sight line.