Angle of Depression Calculator

This angle of depression calculator works out the angle between the horizontal and your line of sight down to a point below you, using right-triangle trigonometry rather than a protractor or guesswork. You enter two measurements: the horizontal distance from your position to the point, and the vertical height difference between you and that point. The calculator returns the angle of depression in degrees as the headline result, along with the same angle in radians and the line of sight distance, the straight-line hypotenuse between you and the point. The maths is straightforward: the height is the side opposite the angle and the horizontal distance is the adjacent side, so the tangent of the angle equals height divided by distance, and the angle itself is the arctangent of that ratio. This is the calculation surveyors use when sighting down from a cliff or tower, navigators use when fixing a bearing to a landmark, builders use when checking roof pitches or drainage falls, and anyone tracking a sight line to a lower point. Change the distance or the height and the results update straight away, so you can see how the angle grows as height increases or distance shrinks. The calculator assumes a level base line and a true right-angled triangle between your position, the point directly below the target, and the target itself, so keep your measurements consistent and remember results are only as accurate as the distances and heights you enter.

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