Question
HI There Dean,
I am a mature student studding Landscape architecture in Cyprus him in the second year, and get really confused about slope analisis and contours any tips on how to understand it better.

Answer
Hello, Maria - I'll see if I can help you.  

First: a contour is how close is described on a map - all the same elevations are linked together by a line, an elevation line.  

Second:  as the lines march across the map, they create a topographic picture called a "relief"

Third: The closer the contour intervals, the greater the slope. The farther apart, the less the slope. Sometimes it is better, graphically, to see this as a colored map.  

Slope analysis is a handy planning tool to avoid steep parts of a site, and plan for development on the easier parts of a site.  A typical color code will show flat parts in "good" colors like green or beige, and steep parts in "bad" colors like red or purple.

Here is a picture of a slope analysis for a ski resort (Which is funny - Don't you want steep slopes for skiing?)  Notice the roads and ski lodge are all on the lighter, flatter areas, and the runs (the red lines) go off to the mountain peaks.

www.whitefish.govoffice.com/vertical/Sites/%7B8773F417-AD9F-4BFA-B5F7-4D1C73387937%7D/uploads/%7BD3CD45C4-65E7-4C16-B43A-F88D65885B0D%7D.PDF

Where I live, in a flat desert basin, sometimes the contours are VERY far apart (slopes are less than 1%), but up above in the mountains, the vertical cliffs look like an accrodian on the contour map!

Fourth:  How to read a contour map --
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hiking/how-to-read-a-topog...

Fifth: Slope formulas are simple math expressions of how close or far apart the contours are, expressed in either a ratio (1:1, 2:1, etc) or percentage of slope (5%, 10%, 25%, etc).  e-mail me back if you need more help with this.  

Regards ~Marc