GGY 130 1st Edition Lecture 13Chapter 8: Climate -Climate Classification • Need a consistent climatic classification scheme to understand numerous climate regions • Earliest known scheme was created by the ancient Greeks 2200 years ago • Classified three major climate regions -Modified Koppen Classification System• Five major climate groups ( plus the special category of the highland (H) climate ) • Subdivided further based on temperature and precipitation relationships into fourteen individual climate types -Koppen Letter Code System • Three letters: -1st: Describes group-2nd: Describes precipitation-3rd: Describes temperature Modified Koppen SystemA. Tropical Humid B. DryC. Mild Midlatitude D. Severe Midlatitude E. PolarF. Highland f: wet all yearm: monsoon precipitation (very wet summer)w: winter dry seasons: summer dry seasona: hot summers b: warm summersc: cold summersd: very cold winter -Climograph (Climatic Diagram)• A tool that is used for studying world climatic classification• A simple graphic representation of monthly temperature and precipitation for a specific weather system -Tropical Humid Climates (Group A)• Occupy almost all the area within the tropics • Winterless climates; little temperature change • High levels of rain due to thermal convection and the ITCZ• Three subtypes-Tropical Wet Climate ( Af)• Equatorial; extends to 10* N and S; Amazon, Congo, and the islands of the southeastern Asia • Warm Temperatures (~80*F)• Daily temperature range (10*F) exceeds annual range (2-3.5*F)• Monotonous climate (seasonless climate)• Rainfall (60-100 in/yr) • Rainfall multpile times a day on average -Tropical Savannah Climate (Aw)• Tall savannah grassland • Lies north and south of Af• Wet summer and dry summer• Annual temperature range (15*F) is higher than in that Af -Tropical Monsoon Climate (Am)• Occupies the tropical western coast of continents• Dry winter and rainy summer • Extensive rainfall during high-Sun season (100-200inches)• Cherrapunji, India averages 425 inches• Average temperature range is small; highest temperatures occur in late