Height above average terrain (
HAAT) (or less popularly,
EHAAT, Effective Height Above Average Terrain) is a measure of how high an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in
FM radio and
television, as it is more important than
effective radiated power (ERP) in determining the range of broadcasts (
VHF and
UHF in particular, as they are
line of sight transmissions). For
international coordination, it is officially measured in meters, even by the
Federal Communications Commission in the
United States, as
Canada and
Mexico (both of which use metric) have extensive border zones where international stations can be received on either side of the international boundaries. Stations that want to increase above a certain HAAT must reduce their power accordingly, based on the maximum distance their station class is allowed to cover (see
list of broadcast station classes for more information on this).