"Ron McKinnon" wrote in message
news:f8W4e.916805$8l.223757@pd7tw1no...

An altimeter can be expected to indicate the correct altitude (+/- 75')
only
on the ground at the given ground station, and elsewhere, only where ICAO
standard conditions prevail. For any other position or condition the
altimeter
can be expected to be in error (and the atmosphere can be expected to
always
differ from the ICAO standard conditions).

Well, if there is a valley reporting station and nearby mountain top
station, ICAO conditions are not likely to be met in either instance.

The desire to minimize these effects is why we generally choose the
altimeter
setting from the nearest ground station, or otherwise nearest to our route
of
flight.

True, but the point made was that ATC uses higher altitude reporting
stations as "they are more accurate".

And why, in the point under discussion, a nearby ground station located
nearer to our actual altitude is better than one at a different elevation.

Yes, an "area setting" :)