Koppen Climate Classification System

Dr. Vanlaltanpuia

Wladimir Köppen (1846 –1940) was a German climatologist who was

also an amateur botanist. Climate classification was first published as ‘thermal
zones of the earth’ in 1884 in Russian language. He gave a detailed climate
classification in 1918 and continued to refine and modify it. In 1931 Köppen
represented the world map of climatic classification. The last modified version
of his classification was published in 1936.

Koppen believed that vegetation type of an area is the best expression of

totality of climate. His climatic classification was based on annual and monthly
means of temperature and precipitation and also seasonal distribution of
precipitation. He gave weightage to the ratio of precipitation and temperature in
a single formation i.e. application of the concept of precipitation effectiveness.
It is quantitative as well as empirical classification of climate. Consequently,
many of the climatic boundaries he selected were based on vegetation limits.

The major climate groups are represented by capital letters i.e. A, B, C,

D, E and a special category of Highland (H) climate. Among these major
groups, A,C,D and E are based on temperature characteristics, while B has
precipitation as its fundamental criterion. These major groups are further
divided into subtypes on the basis of their features like temperature and
precipitation or level of dryness or coldness, etc. The small letters a, c, g, and h
refers to the degree of severity of temperature. The seasons of dryness are
indicated by the small letters: f, m, w, and s.
a: hot summer, the average temperature of the warmest month over 22°C
c: cool summer, the average temperature of the warmest month under 22°C
f: no dry season
w: the dry season in winter
s: the dry season in summer
g: Gange’s type of annual march of temperature; hottest month comes before
the solstice and the summer rainy season.
h: average annual temperature under 18°C
m (monsoon): short dry season.

The capital letters S and W are employed to designate the two subdivisions of
dry climate:
1. semi-arid or Steppe (S) and
2. arid or desert (W).
 Capital letters T and F are similarly used to designate the two subdivisions of
polar climate
1. tundra (T) and
2. icecap (F)

Climate Classification
A. Tropical Rainy Climates
 Humid tropical climate, winterless, hot at all the seasons, the temperature
always remains above 18°C.
 The annual precipitation here is generally above 1500 mm.
 This type of climate can be found in 15° to 25° in the north and south of
the equator.
  Different kinds of sub climates can be found under this category such as
Af, Am, Aw and As.
 Af represents the Tropical wet Climate. Here, in tropical regions usually,
the tropical climate is there along with precipitation all year round.
Monthly variations in temperature of around or less than 3°C can be seen.
Here, extreme high humidity is found along with cumulus and
cumulonimbus clouds which form every day which leads to high
precipitation.
 Am represents the Tropical monsoon climate. Here, annual precipitation
is much similar to that of Af, but mostly occurs within 7 to 9 of the
warmest months and the rest of the years usually less rainfall occurs here.
 Aw represents Tropical wet and dry climate or we can say Savannah type
of climate. Extended dry season can be seen in the winters whereas, in the
wet season, precipitation occurs less than 1000 mm and usually in the
summers.
 As represents Dry summer. It is a rare climatic type and only found in
particular area.

B. Dry Climates
 This type of climate is more dependent upon the nature of the
precipitation rather than the temperature and here evaporation, as well as
transpiration, exceeds the total precipitation and leads to constant water
deficiency.
 This type of climate can be found in the range of 20° to 35° from the
north and south of the equator.
 It has further four subdivisions as BSh, BWh, BSk, and BWk. Basically,
two major types here are BS and BW. Only ‘k’ and ‘h’ are suffixed
attached to define the aridness or location.
 BW is a dry arid climate and is considered the true desert climate which
covers about 12% of the total land of the Earth.
 BS represents the semi-arid type of climate which are grasslands regions
and which covers almost 14% of the land of the Earth. These regions
receive more rainfall than the BW type of climatic regions.
C. Humid Mesothermal or warm temperate rainy climates (Moist Sub-
Tropical Mid-latitude Climate)
 In simple words, we can say that these are warm temperate rainy climate
regions where warm and humid summer and mild winters can be seen.
 This type of climate can be found in the ranges of 30° to 50° in the north
and south of the Equator and mainly can be found at the eastern or
western sides of the continents.
 Convective thunderstorms can be seen in the summertime whereas mid-
latitude cyclones can be seen in the winters.
 It can also be sub-classified into various categories.
 Cfa is a humid subtropical climate where hot and humid summers can be
found with thunderstorms whereas winters are mild and precipitation
usually occurs because of the cyclones.
 Cfb is an example of marine climate that is found on the western edges or
coasts of the continents. Here, hot and dry summer can be found with
largely humid conditions whereas winters are mild with heavy
precipitation.
 Cs is an example of a Mediterranean type of climate where precipitation
usually occurs in winters because of mid-latitude cyclones.

D. Humid Microthermal or Cold snow forest climates or Humid cold

climates (Moist Continental Mid-latitude Climates)
 In this type of climate, summers are usually warm exceeding 10oC but
also can be cool whereas winters are usually cold, it can be less than
minus 3° C.
 This type of climate can be found towards the poles or at the subtropical
mid-latitude climates or C- climates.
 Here, winters are very cold along with strong winds as well as
snowstorms that come from the Continental polar regions or the Arctic air
masses.
 It has also further subdivisions which include major three types i.e. Dw
which means dry winters, Ds which means dry summers, and Df
represents precipitation all around the year.
E. Polar Climate
 Here, in these types of climatic regions, the temperature is too low
indicates summerless.
 Even, in the warmest months of the year as well, the temperature is less
than 10°C.
 It usually occurs in the coastal areas of the northern regions of Asia,
North America, Europe, Greenland, and Antarctica.
 It is also further divided into various types such as ET and EF. ET refers
to Polar Tundra where the soil in the form of permafrost can be seen and
EF refers to Polar Ice Caps that are permanently frozen.

Merits
There are numerous merits of the Koppen climate classification system, out of
which some are mentioned below:
 The Koppen climate structure is quantitative in nature along with its
division.
 The system is basically one that is quite easy to understand.
 One can measure the Koppen climate classification system in an easy
manner as well.
 The Koppen climate classification system coincides with the vegetation
pattern that is found in any region.
 The Koppen climate classification system has importance pertaining to
two major factors, which are temperature and precipitation.
 The Koppen climate classification system is very vast, so much so that it
actually covers all the types of climate patterns as well as conditions that
are found on the Earth.

Demerits
 The concept is quite vast and has various classifications which might get
difficult to memorize at times.
 The Koppen climate classification system is majorly based on the average
values. This pertains to the fact that one needs average values of
temperature and precipitation in order to make use of it. You may already
know how precipitation is much more of an aspect that is estimated rather
 than measured. So, such average values are, on occasions, difficult when
it comes to comparisons and yielding the desired results.
 The Koppen climate classification system ignores various features. These
include the intensity of the precipitation, number of rainy days, cloud
coverage, variations in temperature or precipitation, and much more.
 In this system of Koppen climate classification, Koppen also ignored the
air masses and their significance in the climate formation that contribute a
lot in Climatology.