B.A. B.Sc.

(III Semester – Section A)

Paper: Climatology (GGB 351)
Topic: Nature and Scope of Climatology (Unit 1)

Meaning and Definition of Climatology

The term ‘Climatology’ has been derived from Greek word Klima (slope or inclination or
latitude) and Logos (discourse or study). Climatology is a branch of physical geography which
scientifically studies the climates of the world. It is concerned with description and explanation of
climatic region, spatial and temporal variation in the climate and the influence of climate on the
environment of life on the earth surface.
The climatologists study not only the geographical distribution of climates, but also the
control of climate and influence of climatic variations on the plant and animal life in different parts
of the world.
According to Howard J. Critchfield, Climatology is the science that seeks to describe and
explain the nature of climate, why it is differ from place to place, and how it is related to other
elements of natural environment and human activities.
Climatologist extends the findings of meteorology in space and in time to cover whole
earth. Climatology = Meteorology (because it studies atmospheric condition and weather
forecasting) + Geography (because it studies the weather/ climatic condition of a place).

Nature of Climatology
 Climatology studies the Identification, demarcation and distribution of various types of
climate.
 It studies the various physical processes which produces the different types of climate.
 It studies the reasons of climatic variation both horizontally and vertically.
 It studies the various theories of climate
 It studies the different elements (temperature, rainfall, humidity etc.) of climate.
 It also explains the effect of climatic variation on various flora and fauna of the world.
 It analyse the impact of climate on human health and various other physiological and
psychological aspects (study of climate as the direct environment of man)
Scope of Climatology -
The subject matter of Climatology may be described through its major branches
(1) Physical or Dynamic Climatology
 Under physical or dynamic climatology, we study various elements of weather and climate
(temperature, air pressure, wind, wind, cloudiness, humidity etc.). In other words, physical
climatology studies the systematic analysis of energy balance of earth and atmosphere.
 It also study the extreme events of atmosphere (flood, drought, storm, hurricane)
  In addition to it, it focuses on the factors responsible for spatio-temporal variations in heat
exchange, moisture exchange and air movement
(2) Regional Climatology
 Climatic conditions significantly vary from one region to the other region. In other words,
there are spatial variations in the combinations of weather and climate and therefore
different climatic types are originated.
 The size of region over which similar climatic conditions are observed varies from a micro
area (a small house) to macro area (a continent)
 Regional climatology studies the different types of climate in areal (spatial) unit.
Based on size and extent of climate, world is divided into three climatic regions-
(a) Microclimate: 1-100 met (vertically); ground to 100 met (horizontally) climate of single
crop filed, single house or a single tree; Data: collected from ground
(b) Local Climate: 100- 1000 met (horizontal); ground to 1000 met (vertical), climate of a
village, urban area etc.
(c) Meso Climate: 100 to 20 km (horizontal); ground to 6 km (vertical) Rewa Plateau,
Sundarban Delta, Middle Ganga Plain etc.
(d) Macro Climate (Geo or Geographical Climate): above 20 km (horizontal), above 6 km
(vertical), whole country (India, China, USA etc.)
(3) Applied Climatology
 It studies the application of climatological knowledge to solve various problems faced by
human society e.g. climate change, global warming, and induced precipitation by cloud
seeding.
(4) Satellite Climatology: Climatic Data obtained through satellite.
 The satellite climatology deals with climatic data obtained through satellites which view
the wider areas from above and provide useful data of day to day weather conditions.

Compiled by: Naiyer Zaidy

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