Climatology

Climatology (from Greek κλίμα, klima, "place, zone"; and -λογία, -logia) or climate science is the study
of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time.

Meteorology vs Climatology
Meteorology and Climatology are two terms that seem to have the same meaning but strictly speaking there is
difference between the two terms. Climatology deals with the scientific study of climate. Meteorology is the study
of the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere especially as a means of forecasting the weather.
Sometimes Meteorology also refers to the atmospheric character of a region. It is the department of climatology
that works on the issue of global warming. On the other hand, the department of meteorology works with the
primary duty of providing information regarding the trends happening in the atmosphere. This is done keeping in
mind weather forecast. Climatology primary deals with the trends in climatic changes on a global basis. This is one
of the main differences between meteorology and climatology.
Importance of climatology
 Helps to determine future climate
These following categories are important to determining synoptic scale climatology:
1)Altitude
2)Latitude
3)Proximity to an ocean body
4) Topography
5) Prevailing wind
6) Ocean currents
7) Relative position to seasonal highs and lows.

*Higher altitude locations tend to have a lower freezing level. This can increase the likelihood of snow and hail
reaching the surface.
*Latitude determines how much thermal energy from the sun is available to a region. Lower latitudes have longer
average days and higher sun angles. For locations with similar elevations, latitude is the most important control to
the global temperature regime. When given the altitude and latitude, a climatologist will have a good idea of
the climatology of the location from just those two values.
*Locations near an ocean body have a more moderate climate than land-locked locations. Near an ocean body,
highs tend to be cooler and lows tend to be higher than an equivalent land-locked location. Also near an ocean
body, summer temperatures tend to be cooler and winter temperatures tend to be warmer than an equivalent
land-locked location.
*Topography (sloped elevations and mountains) can influence how much precipitation a location receives. The
windward side of topographic regions has enhanced precipitation (especially if near a moisture source) and
leeward side regions have less precipitation.

*The prevailing wind (defined as the most common wind direction at a location) determines how
much moisture and thermal advection a location will receive. If winds are usually from the south, expect a warm
climate (Northern Hemisphere). If winds are usually from the north, expect a cool climate (Northern Hemisphere).
A prevailing wind from a dry region will not support much precipitation.

*The primary high and low pressure belts help drive oceanic circulation. The west coasts of continents tend to
have cooler temperatures (due to a pole to equator ocean current) while the east coasts of continents tend to
have warmer temperatures (due to an equator to toward pole ocean current).

*Semi-permanent high and low regions heavily influence climatology. Examples include the Bermuda-Azores high
and the Aleutian Low. These pressure belts drive oceanic circulation and the prevailing winds.

Types of climate in the Philippines

Climate of the Philippines is either tropical rainforest, tropical savanna, tropical monsoon, or humid
subtropical (in higher-altitude areas) characterized by relatively high temperature, oppressive humidity and plenty
of rainfall. There are two seasons in the country, the wet season and the dry season, based upon the amount of
rainfall. This is also dependent on location in the country as some areas experience rain all throughout the year.
Type
   Two pronounced seasons: dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year.
Ⅰ
Type
   No dry season with a pronounced rainfall from November to January.
Ⅱ
Type Seasons are not very pronounced, relatively dry from November to April, and wet during the rest
  
Ⅲ of the year.
Type
   Rainfall is more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.
Ⅳ

Seasons
The climate of the country is divided into two main seasons:
1. the rainy season, from June to November;
2. the dry season, from December to May. The dry season may be subdivided further into (a) the cool dry
season, from December to February; and (b) the hot dry season, from March to May. [1] The months of
April and May, the hot and dry months when schools are on their long break between academic years, is
referred to as summer while in most of the northern hemisphere those months are part of spring.

Branches of Climatology
*Physical Climatology- deals with the interpretation of factors responsible for the spatial and temporal
variations of exchange of air circulations, heat and humidity. It studies various elements of weather namely
insolation, temperature, precipitation, fogs, visibility etc. Different elements are formed due to combinations of
these weather elements. The occurrences of different combinations of these weather elements are accomplished
through different processes and mechanisms. Thus, these processes of exchange o9f heat, humidity, and
momentum between atmosphere and earth’s surface are also studied thoroughly. It is thus, evident that physical
climatology studies the factors and processes of regional variations of climatic conditions.

* Regional Climatology- includes the study of types, distribution, pattern and characteristics factors of
world climates. Regional climatology is studied in three ways on the basis of spatial scale viz.
1. Macro-climatic region, 2. Meso-climatic region 3. Micro-climatic region

* Applied Climatology- studies the application of climatic knowledge to solve various problems faced by
human society e.g. global warming and climate changes. It studies the interactions between climate and biosphere
i.e. how does climate influence and control plants and animals including man and in turn how does man modify
climate by introducing advertent and inadvertent changes in the physical environment and by making certain
weather modification e.g. cloud seeding and induced precipitation. Further, applied climatology includes the study
of variability of climate, climatic changes, air pollution, climate and comfort, climate and health, climate and
society, extreme weather events (e.g. floods, drought etc.) and their impacts, climate and recreation, climate and
urban planning, weather forecasting, climate and transport and communication, weather modification etc.

The study of climate is also divided into three types based on influences of climatic environment on
human health and behavior of different spatial scale viz.
1. Micro-climate, which represents weather conditions surrounding an individual organism.
2. Eco-climate- Ecological climate or eco-climate, which represents weather elements of the habitats of
the organisms, in the case of man the habitat may be his house and working places like factory, office, mine,
agricultural farm, pasture etc.
3. Geo-climate- Geographical or geo-climate, which represents weather conditions of larger areal unit and
larger temporal span.