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LECTURE 5 - CLIMATIC CLASSIFICATION


Factors controlling climate
No two sites on earth will have exactly the same climate. Many factors
exert control on the climate of any place.
a. The distribution of the main atmospheric elements is not
homogenous.
b. Latitude - this controls the amount of solar radiation received at the
earth's surface. While non-periodic variations in factors lie cloud
coverage! dust amounts in the air may exert some in"uence!
seasonal changes in sun angle and length of daylight are the most
important factors controlling the global distribution of temperature.
#ecause all places situated along the same parallel have identical
sun angles and lengths of daylight! variations in the receipt of solar
energy are largely a function of latitude. While there may be many
types of climates on earth there is some order in the distribution of
climatic elements as controlled by latitude. $ence the pattern of
climates is not a matter of chance.
c. Land and water - the distribution of land and water is second in
importance only to latitude. %ariations in air temperatures are much
greater over land than over water. Thus climates can be divided
further into marine climates and continental climates. The
temperature range in the former is much less than in the latter. The
di&erential heating and cooling of land and water signi'cantly a&ects
other elements of climate lie pressure! winds and precipitation.
d. (eographic position and prevailing winds - in relation to )c* the
position of an area on the continent and its relationship to the
prevailing winds are important. The moderating in"uence of water is
much more pronounced along the windward side of a continent! for
here the prevailing winds may carry the maritime air masses far
inland. +n the other hand! places located on the lee side of a
continent! where the prevailing winds blow from the land toward the
ocean! are liely to have a more continental temperature regime.
e. Mountains and highlands - the location of mountains and highlands
plays an important part in the distribution of climates.
i. ,tations may lie within a few hundred ilometers from an
ocean! yet the temperature regime may be continental! due to
the presence of a mountain barrier near the coast.
ii. Topographic barrier induces orographic rainfall on the windward
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side and dry rain shadow on the leeward side.
iii. -xtensive highlands create their own climatic regions.
f. +cean currents - pole-ward moving currents exert di&erent e&ects on
ad.acent land areas from those that move towards the e/uator. 0n the
case of the former! they cause air temperatures to be signi'cantly
warmer than would be expected! especially in winter. 0n the case of
the latter! they reduce the temperatures of bordering coastal 1ones!
causing stability of air masses resulting in mared aridity and often
considerable advection fog.
g. 2ressure and wind systems - the world distribution of precipitation
shows a close relationship to the distribution of the earth's ma.or
pressure and wind systems.
i. The belt of e/uatorial low! the convergence of warm! moist and
unstable air )0T34* maes this a 1one of heavy rainfall.
ii. 0n the subtropical highs! aridity prevails.
iii. Mid-latitude 1one is dominated by the irregular sub-polar low!
many travelling cyclonic disturbances cause precipitation totals
to rise.
iv. 0n polar regions where temperatures are low! precipitation is
also low.
The seasonal shifting of the pressure and wind belts also has a
signi'cant e&ect on the areas situated in the intermediate positions!
giving rise to mared seasonality of rainfall.
Schemes of climatic classifcation
(iven the great number of possible climates on earth! and great variations
within one area! some rationalisation! regionalisation and classi'cation are
re/uired based on the climatic 'norm'. 3limatic norms are computed from
averages and extremes of weather elements compiled over a 56-year
period. This concept may not be ade/uate since there are variations and
extremes which must also be noted in order to portray the character of an
area accurately. 7sing certain climatic parameters and formulae!
climatologists have come out with several schemes of classi'cation. +ne
well nown classi'cation which has been used for 86 years was derived by
9oppen )Tale !"# and Fig$re !"#*. :nother scheme was proposed by
Thornthwaite.
Temperature and precipitation are the most important elements in a
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climatic description because they have the greatest in"uence on people
and their activities and also have an important impact on the broad-scale
distribution of such items as vegetation and soils.
%o&&en's Classifcation
,everal attempts have been made to produce reasonable classi'cation of
climate and to show their distribution on world maps. +f all the ma.or
climatic classi'cations! the one provided by 9oppen was the most well-
nown and has been used for the past 86 years. 0t has been widely
accepted for several reasons;
a. it uses only easily obtained data; mean monthly and annual values of
temperature and precipitation.
b. the criteria are unambiguous! relatively simple to apply! and divides
the world into climatic regions in a realistic way.
9oppen believed the distribution of natural vegetation was the best
expression of the totality of climate. 3onse/uently! the boundaries he
chose were largely based on the limits of certain plant associations.
<ive principal groups were recogni1ed; each group was designated by a
capital letter as follows;
A. $umid tropical. Winterless climates= all months having a mean
temperature of >?
o
3.
(. @ry. 3limates where evaporation exceeds precipitation= there is a
constant water de'ciency.
C. $umid middle-latitude. Mild winters= the average temperature of the
coldest months is below >?
o
3 but above -5
o
3.
). $umid middle-latitude. ,evere winters= the average temperature of
the coldest month is below -5
o
3 and the warmest monthly mean
exceeds >6
o
3.
E. 2olar. ,ummerless climates= the average temperature of the warmest
month is below >6
o
3.
-ach of the above 've categories is further subdivided by using certain
criteria and symbols.
9oppen's system of classifying climates has been modi'ed by himself and
others in later years. 0t encompasses the basic design of the original
9oppen system but with a variety of minor modi'cations.
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Thornth*aite's Classifcation
Thornthwaite's classi'cation of climate is less well nown. 0t is based on the
concept of potential evapotranspiration and the moisture budget.
2- is calculated from the mean monthly temperature with corrections for
day length or sunshine hours. <or a 56-day month;
2- A >.B )>6tC0*
a
where; 0 A is the annual heat index ie sum for >D months of i! where i A
)tCE*
>.E>F
and a A a is obtained from )B.8E x >6
-8
*0
5
- )8.8> x >6
-E
*0
D
G )6.6>8H x >6
-D
*0
G 6.FHD
The monthly water surplus ),* or de'cit )@* is determined from the
moisture budget assessment! taing into account stored soil moisture.
: moisture index )0m* is given by;
0m A )>66, - B6@*C2-
The 'nal classi'cation and climatic types are de'ned thus;
0mI 2-
J>66 2erhumid ):* J>>F Megathermal ):'*
D6 to >66 $umid )#
>
to #
D
* E8 - >>F Mesothermal )#
>
' - #
F
'*
6 to D6 Moist ,ubhumid )3
D
* D?.E - E8 Microthermal
)3
>
' - 3
D
'*
-55 to 6 @ry ,ubhumid )3
>
* >F.D - D?.E Tundra )@'*
-B8 to -55 ,emi-arid )@* >F.D <rost )-'*
->66 to -B8 :rid )-*
I 0m A >66),-@*C2- is e/uivalent to >66 )rC2-->*! where r A annual
precipitation.
Thornwaite's method of water balance analysis can also be carried out for
individual stations and a diagramatic representation of the monthly
moisture budget is as shown in Fig$re !"+.
A&&lications of s$ch classifcation schemes
a. (eneral reference about climates! rather detailed with sub-classes
b. :gricultural applications - in particular crop types with moisture
re/uirements
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c. 3limatic geomorphology and other environmental applications
Keservations
a. :nomalies and internal variability are not shown eg dry
spellsCseasons in the wet tropics.
b. @o not tae into consideration other elements of climate
c. ,ome problems concerning transitional 1ones and marginal areas
d. @ata used not of uniform /uality
T,&es of climates
(enerally several main climatic types are discussed in any boo on
climatology. These are;
a. The humid tropics
b. Tropical monsoon
c. Tropical ,avanna
d. Mediterranean
e. $ot :rid
f. 3ool Temperate
g. Tundra
h. 2olar
%ariations from these may include maritime and continental. ,ince
standard texts are available on these it would be useful to read up the
characteristics of each one of these climates.
)isc$ssion
>. The climatic classi'cations employed in delineating climate types are
rough regionalisations only. @o you agreeL
D. 0s the notion that 'the e/uatorial climate is hot and wet throughout the
year ' correctL
5. ,how how climate a&ects human activities in di&erent parts of the
world.

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