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Koppen’s Climate Classification NCERT Notes for UPSC
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A brief history about Koppen’s climate classification:
Koppen’s Climate Classification is a widely used classification system for vegetation-based climate classification. This system was given by Wladimir Koeppen, a German botanist, and climatologist. Under this classification system, there are many formulas which are driven out to categorize vegetation zones or biomes across the globe, in accordance with their climatic boundaries.
Till 1990, the climatic classification was considered as one of the novel concepts but in 1918 Koppen revised his classification system and republished, and continued revising the system until his death in 1940. This concept was introduced as a map in 1928. The co-author of Koppen’s climatic classification is his student Rudolph Geiger.
This article elaborates more on NCERT Notes on the Koppen’s Climate Classification which is useful for the upcoming UPSC exams.
Koppen’s Climate Classification (NCERT Notes) for UPSC: Download as PDF!
About Koeppen’s Climate Classification:
Koppen’s classification system for climate is the most commonly used classification. In this classification process, Koeppen recognised the relationship between the distribution of vegetation and climate. He set up these classification categories based on the data of annual and monthly averages of temperature and precipitation. For this, he selected specific values of temperature and precipitation and set up a relationship between the distribution of vegetation and used these values for classifying the climates.
In this classification system Koppen recognizes five major climatic types and each type is designated by a capital letter- A, B, C, D, E, and H.
In this classification system seasons of dryness are denoted by small letters: f, m, w, and s.
- f – this indicates no dry season
- m – this indicates monsoon climate
- w- this indicate winter dry season
- s – this indicates summer dry season
- Whereas small letters a, b, c, and d signifies or symbolises to the degree of severity of temperature.
Check NCERT notes on Tropical Cyclone here.
List of Climatic Groups and their Key Features according to Koeppen:
| Group | Key features |
| A- Tropical | The average temperature of the coldest month over here is 18° C or higher |
| B- Dry Climates | Potential evaporation property exceeds precipitation |
| C- Warm Temperate | The average temperature of the coldest month of the (Mid-latitude) climates years is higher than -3°C but below than 18°C |
| D- Cold Snow forest | The average temperature of the coldest month is -3° C or below |
| E- Cold Climates | The average temperature for cold climates for all months is below 10° C |
| H- Highlands | Cold here because of elevation |
Types of Climate according to Koeppen’s classification:
| Group | Type | Letter Code | Key features |
| 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 cover of snow |
You might also like: NCERT notes on Factors controlling temperature distribution
The five zones:
As per the Köppen climate classification, the climate is divided into five main climate groups or zones, which is further divided into seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups include A (tropical), B (dry), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar).
A – Tropical Moist Climates
Tropical moist climate is found over 15-25º latitude northwards and southwards of the equator. The temperature in this region is always above 180C throughout the year and this region receives annual rainfall of about 1500mm. In the tropical moist climate region there are three types of climatic variation.
- Af or tropical wet climate: In this precipitation occurs year-round. Variations in temperature are less than 3ºC. Along with high humidity and the surface temperature they form cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds in the early afternoon time, daily. Because of this high rainfall occurs.
- Am or tropical monsoon climate: In this region annual rainfall is almost same to that of Af, but precipitation usually occurs within the 7-9 of the warmest months of the year.
- Aw, or the tropical wet and dry climate: This climatic zone also known as the savanna climate. In this region there is an extended dry season during the winter. Here rainfall is less than 100mm during the wet season.
B – Dry Climates
In this climatic region a major role is played by evaporation and transpiration in shaping the vegetative state rather than temperature, here. This region is extended from 20-35º latitude northwards and southwards from the equator. Further there are four subdivision of this region:
- BW or dry, arid climate or true desert climate: about 12% of total Earth has this climate. In this classification letters h and k are used as suffixes after BW to represent whether the zone is subtropical (h) or mid-latitudinal (k).
- BS or dry, semi-arid climate: This climatic region known as steppe climate, spans about 14 percent of the Earth’s land and makes up grassland-type climate. Amount of rainfall received in this region is more than the BW region. This happens because of mid-latitude cyclones and areas of inter-tropical convergence.
C – Moist Mid-Latitude Climates with Mild Winters:
In this region hot and humid summers and mild winters are generally experienced. This region is located in the eastern and western extremes of each continent which extends between 30-50º latitude northwards and southwards from the equator. In this region sometimes months of summer may feature convective thunderstorms, and winter months may feature mid-latitudinal cyclones.
- Cfa or humid subtropical climate: In this region summers are sweltering and humid, with frequent thunderstorms. Whereas winters are milder in comparison, and the process of precipitation occurs due to mid-latitude cyclones.
- Cfb or marine climates: Such climate is usually seen on the western coasts of each continent. This region generally experiences humid with a hot and dry summer. Whereas this region experiences milder winters with heavy rainfall due to mid-latitude cyclones.
- Cs or the Mediterranean climatic zones: In this region precipitation is heaviest during the winters due to mid-latitude cyclones. This region experiences the least rainfall during summer. Examples of countries which include such climatic zones: Portland, Oregon or California.
D – Moist Mid-Latitude Climates with Cold Winters:
In this region summer is usually hot but sometimes it is cold also. Such regions are usually situated towards the poles from C regions. Average summer temperature in this region climbs above 10º Celsius, whereas in the colder months it can be less than 3º Celsius.Because of this winters are biting cold in this region with strong winds and the possibility of snowstorms coming in from the Continental Polar and the Arctic air masses.
It is further classified into three subsections:
- Dw, which symbolises dry winters
- Ds, which symbolises dry summers
- Df, for year-round rainfall
E – Polar Climates:
In this region the temperature is very high all year round. Such regions are found in polar climatic regions. This region has a temperature of about 10º Celsius.
This climate is further divided into two types:
ET, or Polar Tundra: In this region soil remains permanently frozen as permafrost and can be hundreds of meters deep. The vegetation which is found in this region are lichen, mosses, dwarf trees, and woody shrubs.
EF, or Polar Ice Caps: In this region the surface is permanently covered in ice.
Check NCERT notes on the Structure of Atmosphere here.
We hope the above NCERT Notes on Koppen’s Climate Classification proves to be useful for your UPSC and other competitive exams preparations. For more notes and updated details, download the Testbook Appand get exam-ready in no time!
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Koppen’s Climate Classification NCERT UPSC IAS Notes 2021 FAQs
Explain what features are taken, why make climate classification by Koeppen’s climate?
Climatic classification depends on their latitudinal position, the amount of solar radiation each region receives, the air masses, high and low-pressure zones, patterns of wind, exchange of heat with the ocean, the spread of land and sea, the topography, and altitude.
How many types of Koppen’s climatic classification are there?
There are mainly six climatic classifications as per Koppen’s.
Explain the term climatic classification?
The tool which is used to recognise, clarify, and simplify the climatic similarities and differences between geographic areas. So, that we can better understand Earth’s climates is known as climatic classification. This classification is dependent on various factors like temperature, rainfall, and snowfall, to uncover patterns and connections between climatic processes.
On the basis of which categories climatic classification is of two types?
Based on two categories like genetic and empirical climate it is classified into two types.
What are the major 6 Koppen classifications of climate?
The Köppen Climate Classification of climate as follows:A (tropical)B (dry)C (temperate)D (continental)E (polar)