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Koeppen's Climate Classification Geography Notes For UPSC

The document summarizes Koeppen's climate classification system, which categorizes climates based on temperature and precipitation data. It identifies five major climate groups - A, B, C, D, E - defined by characteristics like temperature thresholds. Within each group are climate types indicated by additional letters for seasons of dryness. The system is widely used and recognizes climates from tropical to polar ice caps.

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411 views2 pages

Koeppen's Climate Classification Geography Notes For UPSC

The document summarizes Koeppen's climate classification system, which categorizes climates based on temperature and precipitation data. It identifies five major climate groups - A, B, C, D, E - defined by characteristics like temperature thresholds. Within each group are climate types indicated by additional letters for seasons of dryness. The system is widely used and recognizes climates from tropical to polar ice caps.

Uploaded by

Rahul
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UPSC Civil Services Examination

UPSC Notes [GS-I]

Topic: Koeppen’s Climate Classification (Geography Notes for UPSC)

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 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 Characteristics


Code

A-Tropical Tropical Wet Af No dry season


Humid Climate Tropical Monsoon Am Monsoonal, Short dry season
Tropical wet and dry Aw Winter dry season

B-Dry Climate Subtropical Steppe BSh Low-latitude semi-arid or dry


Subtropical Desert BWh Low-latitude arid or dry
Mid-latitude Steppe BSk Mid-latitude semi-arid or dry
Mid-latitude Desert BWk Mid-latitude arid or dry

C-Warm Humid subtropical Cfa No dry season


temperate Mediterranean Cs Dry hot summer
Climates
Marine west coast Cfb No dry season, warm and cool
summer

D- Cold Snow- Humid Continental Subarctic Df No dry season, severe winter


forest Climates Dw Winter dry and very severe

E-Cold climates Tundra ET No true summer


Polar ice cap EF Perennial ice

H-highland Highland H Highland with snow cover

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