NCERT Notes: Geography- Koeppen's Climate Classification

Koppen Climate Classification UPSC

Subject: Geography 
Category: The Fundamentals of Physical Geography  
Topic: Koeppen’s Climate Classification UPSC

NCERT notes on important topics for the UPSC civil services exam. These notes will also be useful for other competitive exams like banking PO, SSC, state civil services exams, and so on. This article talks about Koeppen’s Climate Classification. It is an important aspect of Geography for the IAS exam.

Koeppen’s Climate Classification (UPSC Notes):- Download PDF Here

Koeppen’s Climate Classification
  • Koeppen’s Classification of climate is the most commonly used classification of climate.
  • This climate classification scheme was developed by Wladimir Peter Koeppen in 1884.
  • He recognized a close relationship between the distribution of vegetation and climate.
  • The categories are based on the data of annual and monthly averages of temperature and precipitation.
  • He selected specific values of temperature and precipitation and related them to the distribution of vegetation and used these values for classifying the climates.
  • The Koeppen climate classification system recognizes five major climatic types and each type is designated by a capital letter- A, B, C, D, E, and H.
  • The seasons of dryness are indicated by the small letters: f, m, w, and s.
    • f -no dry season
    • m – Monsoon climate
    • w- Winter dry season
    • s – Summer dry season
  • The small letters a, b, c, and d refer to the degree of severity of temperature.

List of climatic groups and their characteristics according to Koeppen
Group Characteristics
A-     Tropical The average temperature of the coldest month is 18° C or higher
B-     Dry Climates Potential evaporation exceeds precipitation
C-     Warm Temperate The average temperature of the coldest month of the (Mid-latitude) climates years is higher than minus 3°C but below 18°C
D-    Cold Snow forest The average temperature of the coldest month is minus 3° C or below
E-     Cold Climates Cold Climates Average temperature for all months is below 10° C
H-    Highlands Cold due to elevation

 

Climatic Types According to Koeppen
  

Group Type Letter Code Characteristics
A-Tropical Humid Climate Tropical Wet

Tropical Monsoon

Tropical wet and dry

Af

Am

Aw

No dry season

Monsoonal, Short dry season

Winter dry season

B-Dry Climate Subtropical Steppe

Subtropical Desert

Mid-latitude Steppe

Mid-latitude Desert

BSh

BWh

BSk

BWk

Low-latitude semi-arid or dry

Low-latitude arid or dry

Mid-latitude semi-arid or dry

Mid-latitude arid or dry

C-Warm temperate Climates Humid subtropical

Mediterranean

Marine west coast

Cfa

Cs

Cfb

No dry season

Dry hot summer

No dry season, warm and cool summer

D- Cold Snow-forest Climates Humid Continental Subarctic Df

Dw

No dry season, severe winter

Winter dry and very severe

E-Cold climates Tundra

Polar ice cap

ET

EF

No true summer

Perennial ice

H-highland Highland H Highland with snow cover

Koeppen’s Climate Classification (UPSC Notes):- Download PDF Here

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Also, See:

Koeppen’s Climate Classification- Group A Climates
Koeppen’s Climate Classification- Group B Climates
Koeppen’s Climate Classification- Group C Climates

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