The bottom part of the diagram shows some contour lines with a straight line running through the location of the maximum value. The curve at the top represents the values along that straight line.A two-dimensional contour graph of the three-dimensional surface in the above picture.
Contour lines or isolines are used when plotting a function of 2 variables. All the points where the function has the same value are connected. Two well-known examples where such lines are common are: height lines drawn on topographicalmaps, and showing areas with the same pressure or temperature on weather charts. Contour lines are an application of level sets.