Climate Classification Systems

What is classification?
• Systematic arrangement in groups or categories

• Based on an established criteria

• Species, age, income…

Köppen Climate Classification System
• The Köppen Climate Classification System is the most widely used
for classifying the world's climates.

• Introduced in 1900 by the Russian-German climatologist Wladimir

Köppen.

• Köppen divided the Earth's surface into climatic regions that

generally coincided with world patterns of vegetation and soils.

• The Köppen system recognizes five major climate types based on

the annual and monthly averages of temperature and precipitation.

• Each type is designated by a CAPITAL letter.

A - Moist Tropical Climates are known for their high temperatures year
round and for their large amount of year round rain.

B - Dry Climates are characterized by little rain and a huge daily

temperature range. Two subgroups, S - semiarid or steppe, and W - arid or
desert, are used with the B climates.

C – Mild Temperate: These climates have warm, dry summers and cool,
wet winters.

D – Snow: These climates are part of areas where permanent ice and
tundra can be found in the interior regions of large land masses. Total
precipitation is not very high and seasonal temperatures vary widely.

E – Polar: These climates are part of areas where permanent ice and tundra
are always present. Only about four months of the year have above
freezing temperatures.
Advantages of Köppen Climate Classification System:
1. uses temperature and precipitation as the basis of classification.
• These are not only, measurable physical quantities,
• are the most visible, sensible and influential elements in atmospheric dynamics.

2. Due recognition has been given to the interaction of temperature and precipitation
and also to their combined interaction with vegetation. Thus, these climatic
divisions coincide with vegetational divisions.

3. It is possible, in this scheme, to assign climatic characteristics to any of the

subdivisions on the basis of temperature and precipitation only.

4. The scheme uses letter symbols to denote various characteristics, which is practical
and convenient.

5. The scheme can be adapted and taught at any level.

Disadvantages of Köppen Climate Classification System :

1. The system uses mean monthly values.

• Thus, the most potent factor of precipitation can only be
estimated.

2. The scheme ignores other factors, such as

cloudiness, wind, rainfall intensity, currents and, above
all, the air masses which form the basis of modern
climatology.
Thornthwaite’s Scheme: Charles Warren Thornthwaite (USA)
Thornthwaite gave two classifications—
He considered evaporation to
one in 1931 and the other in 1948.
be an important element and
proposed:
In the 1931 classification, Thornthwaite
used:
• five Humidity Provinces
(i) Physical quantities to delimit
based on Precipitation
boundaries,
Effectiveness (P/E index),
(ii) Recognised association of vegetation
(iii) Letter symbols
• six Temperature Provinces
based on Thermal Efficiency
And based his classification on:
(T/E) index,
(i) Effective precipitation
• which is expressed as the
(ii) Thermal efficiency
positive departure of mean
(iii) Seasonal distribution of rainfall.
monthly temperature from
the freezing point.
Thornthwaite’s Humidity Provinces:
• The annual precipitation index is given as
P/ E total rainfall index (annual) = total rainfall/ total evaporation.
• In the absence of instrument for measuring evaporation, the sum of twelve
individual monthly P/E index ratios are used as P/E index.
• Monthly index ratio is given as P/E index ratio (monthly) = 11.5 (r x( – 10)10/9
• Where, r = mean monthly rainfall in inches
• The five Humidity Provinces are given in the Table.
Thornthwaite’s Temperature Provinces:

• Again, the annual T/E index is taken as

the sum of twelve individual monthly
T/E index ratios.

• And, T/E the monthly index ratio is

given as

T/E index ratio (monthly) = (t-32)/ 4

where, t = mean monthly temperature in

degree Fahrenheit.

Thus, the six Temperature Provinces are

as follows:
Further sub-divisions are also possible based on seasonal
distribution of rainfall

1. r – rainfall in all seasons

2. s – summer deficient in rainfall

3. w – winter deficient in rainfall

4. d – dry in all seasons.

Theoretically, there can be 120 divisions but Thornthwaite used

only 32 of them.
A Critical Appraisal of 1931 Classification:
1. The concepts of Precipitation Effectiveness and Thermal Efficiency
were used for the first time by Thornthwaite, but they make the
delimitation of boundaries difficult.

2. The lack of climatic data, especially on evaporation, is a serious

handicap. This makes the comparison between localities not possible,
since effective precipitation cannot be precisely ascertained.

3. Like Köppen’s scheme, Thornthwaite’s scheme is appealing to the

geographers, botanists and zoologists, but not to the climatologists and
meteorologists, because the interplay of climatic factors and weather
elements is not considered.
Thornthwaite’s second classification (1948) is based on two
variables:

1. Potential Evapotranspiration (PE)

2. Precipitation

• The Potential Evapotranspiration is expressed as

• the amount of moisture that will be transferred to
atmosphere by evaporation of solid and liquid water and
• by transpiration from living tissues, principally plants.
 (1)

(2)

Potential Evapotranspiration
(3)

(4)
Moisture Index Im = (100s – 60d) PET

s – Monthly water surplus

d – Monthly water deficit

These two are calculated from moisture budget assessment

including stored soil moisture.
Further sub-divisions are possible on the basis of seasonal distribution of
Effective Moisture.

Thus, the climate of a place can be found out on the basis of:
(i) Potential evapotranspiration
(ii) Seasonal variation of effective moisture
(iii) Average annual thermal efficiency.
A Critical Appraisal of 1948 Classification:

1. His scheme does not have a vegetational basis. Thus, it is

different from Koppen’s scheme.

2. Thornthwaite’s scheme is more suitable for North America

where the vegetational boundaries coincide with climatic divisions,
but it is not suitable for tropics.

3. This scheme is empirical as well as quantitative but does not

consider causative factors.

4. Thornthwaite’s scheme involves a lot of calculations, therefore it

is difficult to apply.
Summary!!!