RESEARCH

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIODIVERSITY IN

Mesoamerica

August 7 to 11, 2000

SYMPOSIUM ON BIODIVERSITY OF THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA

CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY: A NEW CLASSIFICATION

OF THE CLIMATES OF PANAMA

By: Dr. Alberto Arturo McKay

Geography Professor and Director of

Institute del Canal y Studies

International of the University of

Panama.

Collaborators:

Mgtr. Xenia Batista J.

Mr. Mario A Pineda Falconett

 Panama

In contrast to the abundant research works that focus on the

biotic components of Panamanian ecosystems, especially on the systems of

organisms, studies related to the abiotic or inert environments that serve are scarce.

of physical support to these ecosystems such as soils, coasts, fresh waters and waters

marinas.

One of the aspects of the abiotic component of ecosystems that is least

climate is the weather, defined by Maximilen Sorre as 'the atmospheric environment constituted'

by the series of atmospheric states that covers a place in its usual succession1

Climatology, despite its great usefulness, has barely developed in our country.

There is no National Meteorological Institute that provides data and interpretations. This

service was distributed among different instances such as the Directorate of Aeronautics

Civil, the Institute of Hydraulic Resources and Electrification, INRENARE, the Commission of

Canal, the University of Panama, and the private company. But recently, he has suffered

of suppressions and mutilations that have made it even less efficient.

To study our climates and apply the results of that action, we have very

few resources. There are hardly any weather stations in forested regions,

1
Biological Foundations of Human Geography
Editorial Juventud, Barcelona, 1955, p. 14.
mountainous, insular, and marine. A large part of the few data that is collected is not

Republican, and among what is published, there is a lack of much information related to such phenomena.

such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, evaporation, humidity, solar radiation,

cloudiness and winds. As a consequence, there are few climatologists, little research and

monographs are scarce. It is therefore not easy to find studies that shed light on

mechanisms that relate elements and factors of the climate to biodiversity.

Types of climates

The classification of climates is a scientific problem with no definitive solution.

There are several approaches, parameters, and proposals for this. The oldest classification,

of Greek origin, divided the Earth into thermal zones limited by the tropics and the

polar circles, which led to the perception of the torrid, temperate, and cold zones.

In 1890, W. Köppen from Germany proposed the first modern classification of the

climates based on the habitat of plants and animals, which was subsequently discarded.

Another German, A.. Penk, in 1910, classified the climates taking into consideration the

precipitation regimes. In 1918, Köppen developed a new typology of climates

based on physical characteristics of the atmosphere, which was perfected in 1930

with the contribution of Geiger. This contains five domains identified with letters

warm

The warm domain is defined by monthly average temperatures higher than

18 C. Inside it, there is the differentiating factor which is the dry season,

f, missing (felt); w, in winter (winter), and m, of monsoon.

There is also differentiation by thermal amplitudes, with the lowercase letter being distinguished.
What does annual amplitude less than 5 mean? There are warm types Afi (warm, without a season,

isothermal), Awi (warm, with dry season, isothermal) and Ami (warm, monsoonal,

isothermal) besides the altitude climates of warm regions: Cfi, temperate, without a season

dry, isotermal, and Cwi, temperate, with dry season, isotermal.

In 1937, E. De Martonne from France developed another classification based on

also in physical criteria in which there are six major groups of climates: warm,

monsoonal, Mediterranean, temperate and cold. In this typology, he defined the climates.

warm like those whose annual average temperature exceeds 20 C. The types of

warm climates of this classification are the equatorial, subequatorial, and tropical.

The subtypes of the equatorial are the Guinean and the oceanic; those of the subequatorial are the Sudanese.

and the Hawaiian, while the tropical only has the Senegalese subtype. For the

mountains of the torrid zone that exceed 2,000 meters in height, the author identified

a special type: high-altitude climates, divided into Colombian and Mexican. The main

A problem of this type has been that of names based on regions, which creates

confusion, especially because those regions, such as the cases of Colombia and Mexico,

they have various climates.

In 1943, Glenn T. Trewartha, from the United States, modified the classification of

Köppen proposed six types of climates and 19 subtypes, many of which have names.

biological. The tropical subtypes are the rainforest tropical (Af), the tropical of rains

monsoonal (Am), the tropical savanna with a dry winter season (Aw) and the tropical of

steppe (Bs). Within the tropical savanna, he distinguished that of the cool highlands, to which not

it assigned formula. All remaining mountain climates belong to the type highlands
undifferentiated2This classification insists on the number 18. C as the thermal limit of the

tropical climates.

Among other modern classifications is that of the American Thornthwaite,

erected from complicated humidity indices and those of the French H. Baulig and Ch.

Peguy. However, the most used in the world are those of Köppen, De Martonne and

Trewartha.

Climate classifications used in Panama:

From 1920 to 1987, five classifications of Panamanian climates have been presented.

The first was that of American zoologist Goldman who in 1920 identified four

climatic regions that he named humid tropical of the North, semi-arid tropical of the South,

temperate highlands and cold climate highlands. Subsequently, in their school text of

Geography of Panama, the Panamanian educator José Daniel Crespo published a map of

precipitation in Panama, but when addressing the topic of climates, he only referred to them with

based on the classical typology, grouping them into tropical, temperate, and frozen zones.

A significant climatological breakthrough occurred with the contribution of Angel Rubio,

Panamanian geographer of Spanish origin, who introduced in our midst the

Köppen and Trewartha classifications defined and explained the climates of Panama.

distinguishing, since 1950, the types Af and Am that he called tropical rainy, Aw that

tropical savanna called Aw and Cw that he considered temperate. Regardless of the

errors made by this author, among which was the detection of monsoonal climates

2
Trewartha, Glenn T: Climates of the Earth / by Glenn T Trewartha. In “Goode's World
Atlas, Goode and Espanchade Publishers, Rand McNally Co., Chicago, 1957, p. 8-9.
in Panama, it must be considered that fifty years ago there were no technical resources and

scientists for something more elaborate. After the passing of the illustrious professor, which occurred

In 1962, the National Atlases of 1975 and 1987 have presented climate maps more

updated that, however, employ the same typology from 1950 taken from Köppen and

Trewarta, to which errors have been added and valuable comments removed.

scientists that Professor Rubio captured in international journal articles,

multigraph notes from classes and post mortem, in the first National Atlas of Panama

from 1965.

Various ecologists such as Holdridge, Budowski, and Tosi, between 1957 and 1971, interpreted

climatic phenomena of Panama to detect ecological regions or life zones, but

they did not make climatic regionalizations of Panama.

At the beginning of the 21st century, it is necessary to review the climate map and classification.

officials and, simultaneously, provide a modern explanatory text. First of all, the

highland climates should stop being called temperate as Köppen did in 1918,

because climates with this designation are, as their name indicates, exclusive to the

temperate zones, located at mid-latitudes, where the

four thermal seasons of summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Therefore, the formula 'C'

it must be abandoned, especially because, since 1975, it is accompanied by a lowercase 'h',

initial letter of the German word 'heiss', which in Spanish means very warm and that

Köppen rightly introduced to highlight the characteristics of arid climates such as the

from the Sahara. In general, the Köppen and Trewartha classifications are not suitable for

define the climates of tropical mountains, characterized by their diversity

ecological.

As for the climates of lowlands, only the Afi formula (which means

warm, with no dry season, isothermal) applies easily in Panama. In contrast, the

Awi symbol (warm, with a dry season in winter, isothermal) has a vague meaning.

because considering their duration in months, there are five classes of dry seasons in

Panama, an event that has great repercussions on other elements of the climate, in the cycle

of water, in morphodynamic processes and in the life of plants and animals. Additionally,

this symbol is identified with the climate called tropical savanna by Trewartha and

our interest is to appreciate the ecological significance of climate elements, but not

derive a climate from a type of vegetation.

This particular community of herbs and sparse trees, as well supported.

Jean Tricart, in addition to a climatic origin, may have a hydrological genesis.

paleoclimatic, edaphic or anthropogenic3Thus, there are anthropogenic savannas in Panama.

rainy weather in Las Palmas de Veraguas and jungles in the very dry region of Punta Patiño

in Darién. Finally, the Ami code, with fifty years of use in our country,

It represents a climate that does not exist throughout America since the monsoon, equatorial wind.

from the West, only has effects in Equatorial Africa and, above all, in the Asian tropics

where, due to its action, there are six months of rain followed by six months of drought.

These inaccuracies and the lack of a comprehensive reinterpretation of the phenomenon

3
Tricart, Jean: The Model of Warm Regions. Forests and Savannas / by Jean Tricart --- SEDES,
Paris, 1965, p. 23, 24, 25.
Panamanian climatic factors have motivated, among other problems, the use of local typologies.

taken out of context like the one that makes you believe with the use of the term 'arch'

dry" that the existence of a climate with mediocre annual precipitation and a long dry season without

Rains are exclusive to lands located in front of the western section of the Gulf of Panama.

New classification:

To establish the climatic classification presented here, a review was conducted and

they criticized all the typologies proposed from 1920 to 1987, the year of the last edition of the Atlas

from Panama. At the same time, the scarce monographs were read and utilized.

existing climatological data and the meteorological data published by both the

Directorate of Statistics and Census as well as the Institute of Hydraulic Resources

Electrification. The average annual isoyetas map of the IRHE was also utilized.

from 1975 published at a scale of 1:1,000,000, which was compared with the physical map. It

they also reviewed field notes taken in different regions of Panama and

they wrote descriptive and explanatory texts for all elements of time

meteorological and climate.

The climatic typology of Emmanuel was applied to the results of those investigations.

de Martonne, unknown in Panama, which has more types of tropical climates,

recognizes the great influences of oceanic masses, the diversity of environments

atmospheric in tropical mountains and sets the thermal limit of tropical climates

from low land at 20º C. Geomorphologically and biologically this figure has great

importance; this temperature is reached at about 1,000 meters of altitude, where it

leave the domain of the high hills and enter that of the low mountain, altitudinal floor in
the conditions of precipitation, humidity, and cloudiness are invigorated, reinforced by

special condensations that give rise to abundant dew and dense fogs. On the other hand

part, the thermal optimum for the formation of plant matter through photosynthesis is located,

precisely, between 20 º and 25º C. Therefore, above an area of altitude close to

At 1,000 meters, thermal and lighting conditions limit the activity of many.

plants. However, the mountain climates of low latitude are still tropical,

that perceive strong solar radiation and have, regardless of height, amplitudes

small annual thermal ranges and consistency of long days. The classification of De Martonne,

In addition, it allows detecting other climates in the intermediate and high mountains, which...

they are present in Panama.

To identify the lowland climates, different types were taken into account.

of warm dry season climates from the De Martonne classification, the noticed

annual isohyets and, above all, the duration of seasonal droughts. As a resource of

the measurement of drought used figures below 100 millimeters monthly

proposals by Peguy and accepted by Tricart4, those approaching 104.1 millimeters

monthly values with which Eugene Odum defines the maximum precipitation of a dry month

in the tropics5. The water deficit map from 1975-1980 was also used, published in

1992 by the Directorate of Statistics and Census.

The final outcome of this research was discussed with the geographer Mario A.

Pineda F. and Xenia X. Batista, professors at the University of Panama and then it was taken to

4
Ibidem, pp. 200-203
5
Odum, Eugene P.: Ecology/by Eugene P. Odum --- New Inter-American Publishing, Mexico, 1972
p- 441.
a map of Panama at a scale of 1:1,000,000 designed by the geographer and cartographer Mario

Pineda Falconett.

Modified classification of De Martone: it is concluded that there are seven in Panama.

types of climates: Based on the oceanic tropical, the oceanic tropical with dry season

dry subtropical, the tropical with prolonged dry season, the

low mountain oceanic, low mountain tropical, and medium mountain tropical

high.

Oceanic tropical climate

The oceanic tropical climate gets its name from the islands of Oceania, located up to

the 10 and 12 N, where there are strong marine influences on its characteristics. In

Panama extends over the islands and lowlands of the Caribbean slope from Bocas del

Bull through the West to western Colón and northwestern Coclé to the East. The

The annual average temperatures rise to 25. y 27 C and the annual amplitude is

small, 1.7 C on the coasts and islands and of 2.5 C towards the continent.

The relative humidity is always high, averaging 84.5 percent annually.

82.7 percent in June, which is the least humid month, and 86.8 percent in July, the most humid.

humid. The annual precipitation totals are high: 2,513 millimeters in

Changuinola, 3,824 millimeters in Chiriquí Grande, 3,841 millimeters in Belén and 4,346

millimeters in Boca de Toabré.

This climate has no dry season and more than 100 mm of rain falls in every month.

millimeters of rain, with maximum precipitation in December and minimum

in the early part of the year, especially in February and then in September and October. The winds

Trade winds, coming from the North and Northeast, cause heavy orographic rains. In the

For the rest of the year, the winds are weak or there is calm, a situation that is conducive to the fall.

of torrential convective rains. In this climate, the high precipitation and

humidity and the weak annual and daily temperature ranges of 5 y 9 C has the effect of

strong marine influences. The weather is frequently cloudy.

This type of climate is the oceanic one from De Martonne's classification, the Af of

Köppen resembles the Af or tropical rain forest of Trewartha. Its characteristics

particulars do not derive from an equatorial latitude that it does not possess, but from the influence of

sea, reinforced by the orographic barriers of the high and medium mountain systems of

Talamanca and Tabasará.

Oceanic tropical climate with a short dry season

E. De Martonne addressed the topic of oceanic varieties of warm climates in

function of relief and orientation, highlighting relief or orographic rainfall in islands

and tropical peninsulas with mountains of some elevation.

In Panama, the oceanic tropical climate is also present in the lowlands of the

province of Colón but with higher annual rainfall and a short and slightly pronounced

dry season. The average annual temperatures are 26.5 C on the coasts and of 25.5 C

into the interior of the continent. In the first ones, the annual temperature range is 1.1 C y, in

inland, from 1.2 C. Precipitation is abundant. It falls 4,760 millimeters in

Coclé del Norte, 4,303 millimeters in Salud, 3,319 millimeters in Cristóbal and 4,036

millimeters in Portobelo. Unlike the oceanic tropical climate of the lowlands

western Caribbean slope, this climate has a short dry season of four

ten weeks long which is not very pronounced as they always fall between 40 and 90

monthly millimeters of rain in February and March.

The heavy precipitation and the small annual temperature ranges are effects

marines. However, the mountainous lands of Coclé and the Sierra Llorona of Portobelo do not

they have sufficient heights to intercept the northern trade winds, which gives rise to the

short dry season that is more pronounced in the Caribbean coastal strip of the depression e

central isthmus where the entrance of the Canal is located.

In the rest of the year, weak winds or calm weather allows for heavy rains.

convective and equatorial rains during the passages of the intertropical zone

convergence in July-August and in October-November.

This type of climate is the Polynesian or Hawaiian of De Martonne's classification and it

it resembles the Awi of Koppen. It does not appear in the typology of Trewartha.

Subequatorial Climate with Dry Season

It is the most widespread climate in Panama. It is warm, with annual averages of

temperature from 26.5 to 27.5 C in the lowlands located less than 200 meters from

elevation. With height, temperatures gradually decrease until reaching the

20 In areas located around 1000 meters. It shows low annual amplitudes.

reaching these to 1.5 C on the coasts, but exceeding 5 C in sectors

continental. It is not, therefore, entirely a climate determined by influences

oceanic. It is found in lowlands and mountains up to 1,000 meters in height in the

Pacific slope in Chiriquí, Veraguas, in mountainous areas of Azuero and Coclé and

in the mountains of Panama, San Blas, and Darién, except in the higher areas like those of

Hoya Hill in Los Santos and Tacarcuna Hill in Darién, where the temperatures are

fresh. Although they are somewhat lower total rain gauges, it also extends through

lowlands and islands of San Blas. The total annual precipitation is high,

close to or exceeding 2,500 millimeters: 3,519 millimeters in Remedios, 2,928 in

Coiba, 2,641 in San Francisco de Veraguas and 2,454 in the Alajuela Dam. In the

In the mountains, the total rainfall amounts are higher, with some reaching the highest levels.

elevated nationwide, as seen in table 1.

Table 1

Rainfall recorded in LomeriosAltos

FROM PANAMAWITH SUBEQUATORIALCLIMATE

Station Elevation Precipitation Province Years of

(in mts) (in mm.) Observation

The Doves 420 4,500 Chiriquí 6

Chepo... 680 2,689 Herrera 6
Lagoon
delaYeguada 640 4,464 Veraguas 12
The Valley of
Antón 580 2,726 Coclé 11
The Boss 975 3,521 Panama 18
Cartí 385 3,381 Saint Blaise 7
.......

Sources: IRHE: Monthly Precipitation by Year in the Republic of Panama. 1890-1972. Directorate of
Statistics and Census. Physical Situation. 1990-91, 1992.

The climate is, however, of a short and pronounced dry season with three to four

months of duration, which begins in December and intensifies in March, when they fall

only from 20 to 60 millimeters throughout the month. The low mountains and the
Piedmonts usually have, however, a somewhat longer dry season and

accentuated. In this type of climate, although the oceanic influences are evident that

they slightly reduce the annual temperature amplitudes and increase precipitation, they are of

a lot of impact from the effects of latitude, responsible for the strength of the trade winds

Nordics in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere and of the drought. This, however, is

reinforced by orographic subsidence when the trade winds lose humidity and warm up

when it crosses the mountain ranges and hills. The high precipitation of the season

Rainy weather is the result of convection, orographic ascents, and ascents.

for convergence.

This climate is also known in De Martonne's typology as climate.

Sudanese. It is the Aw climate of Koppen and the Aw of the Trewartha classification, in which

it is also called 'tropical savanna climate', despite the fact that both in Panama

As in other countries, under its influence, there are developed tropical rainforests.

Köppen and Trewartha classifications define warm climates as those

that have monthly temperatures of more than 18 C, make the Aw climate

find up to 1,500-1,700 meters in height, where the tropical savannah,

the rain like for the monthly minimum temperatures of up to 12 C does not exist.

Tropical climate with a prolonged dry season

It is warm, with average temperatures of 27 C to 28 C. The thermal amplitudes

annual are 1.5 C on the coasts and of 3 a 4 C in the more continental lands. The

daily amplitudes in the continental regions can however easily reach

a 20 In months like January and March. The annual rainfall totals, always

less than 2,500 millimeters are the lowest in the whole country, which reach

1,750 millimeters in Tonosí, 1,122 in Los Santos, 1,129 in Santa Clara, 1,324

in Taboga, at 1,324 in Garachiné, at 1,698 in Metetí and at 1,824 in Camogantí.

This type of climate is found in the Tonosí valley, in the lowlands of

hydrographic drainage of the Gulf of Panama, in the islands of this gulf and in the basins

from the Bayano, Chucunaque, and Tuira rivers, and Sambú. It has, however, some

local variants. Thus, in Azuero in a coastal area between Las Tablas and

Parita, the dry season lasts six months; on the coasts of Panama between Capira and

Chepo, the annual rainfall is somewhat higher and the dry season is shorter.

pronounced in December and April.

In the basins of Tuira and Sambú, there are also greater precipitations and

a shorter dry season, but there is a trend towards an erratic, short, and weak one

dry season in September, which is a consequence of the greater influences of

southeast trade winds to which the eastern regions of Panama are subjected.

The dry season, in these climates, is very windy, clear, with predominance

of medium and high clouds; there is low relative humidity and strong evaporation. The

rainfall during the rainy season is not very abundant; they are convective and

equatorial, presenting the orographic, in Panama and Darién, in those places

in the reliefs of certain heights such as Cerro Azul, Altos de Pacora, Mamomí, Sierras

de Majé, Darién, and Pirre determine it.

This climate is similar to the tropical long dry season or Senegalese.

classification of Martonne and coincides with the Aw of Köppen and Trewartha. However

the designation of savanna tropical of the latter does not apply entirely

because, especially in Darién, specifically in the spill into the Gulf of San

Miguel, there are considerable stretches of tall forests always exposed to

wildfire constants. Drought, as in the Senegalese climate, is the effect of

Nordic forest and therefore, a consequence of latitude. However, it is less

accentuated in the African Sahel due to strong oceanic influences. The drought

The long and accentuated dry season tropical climate in Panama also has causes.

in the orographic subsidence and in the thermal subsidence generated from the

seasonal cooling of the waters of the Gulf of Panama, resulting from the

upwellings due to the southward movement of the thermocline of the gulf due to

effect of the northern trade wind.

Mountain oceanic climate

Emmanuel De Martonne warned that the tropical highlands have, among the

1,000 to 1,500 meters in height, modified fundamental climates and that as of the

2,000 meters of elevation, the drop in temperature creates original types of

climates one of which was called equatorial mountain climate or Colombian climate

which corresponds to the Cfi climate of Köppen. However, the French climatologist noted that

altitudes modify oceanic climates, for which he gave the example of the archipelago.

from Hawaii.

The oceanic mountain climate is present on the windward slopes of

northern alisio of more than 900 - 1,000 meters from Bocas del Toro, extending

also, thanks to the Quijada del Diablo ridge, to high mountainous sectors of

Boquete and Gualaca in Chiriquí. It's cool, very rainy, and without a dry season. Thus, in

High Linen, Boquete, at an elevation of 1,450 meters, the average annual temperature is

estimate at 18 And the total rainfall is 3,710 millimeters per year. There is no

practically dry season, except for a few slightly rainy weeks in the month of

February. With a longer period without rain, this rainy and cool weather is

it is presented in the Caribbean slope of the Veraguas mountains as demonstrated by the

heavy rainfall at the El Palmar station, 1,000 meters high in Santa Fe.

Mountain tropical climate

It is also known in De Martonne's typology as 'Mexican climate'.

It corresponds to the Cw of the Köppen classification.

This type of climate appears in the mountains of the Pacific slope located

above 900-1,100 meters in height. It is, therefore, typical of a broad sector

mountainous region of Chiriquí, especially of the Talamanca mountain range, where they have achieved

to prosper important human settlements. In Veraguas, this climate is that of a

thin mountain range of ignimbritic elevations that surrounds Santa Fe.

Coclé, Los Santos, and Darién only appear in the highest peaks. Although their

total precipitation results are high and very high, the föhn effect that occurs at

considerable drying of the downwind springs occurs at the beginning of the year, which are the ones from

Pacific. This is a factor in the incidence of forest fires in the forest region.

of shrubs and having agricultural activities.

Medium and high mountain tropical climates:

They are located above 1600 meters in height, an environment conducive to the

presence of low temperatures on the coldest nights, meteorological condition that

reduces the ability of many lowland plants to survive in the environment. The

average temperatures are 17.4 C in Bambito at 1,700 meters and 14.8 C in

Bajo Grande at 2,300 meters, where the daily temperature ranges average at

9.5 C y has 12.3 C in the month of February.

The breezes from the hillside, valley, and mountain soften the temperature differences.

derived from the strong solar radiation and the nighttime coolings in Bajo

Grande, Chiriquí, is rated 10.2 C on average and that in February they drop to

7.8 C. At 3,000 meters above sea level, it is estimated that the average temperature is 10

a 11 And certain descents in the early mornings bring it close to 0 C. In

under low temperature conditions, evaporation is not very strong, averaging the

3 millimeters per year. There are slow and oblique ascents and dense fogs, especially

in the mountains, which are lifted by the breezes of the valley and slope.

Orographic precipitation is strong in the lower parts. They fall, thus,

2,546 millimeters in Bambito at 1,700 meters above sea level. Higher up, the totals

they decrease and reach 2,138 millimeters in Cerro Punta at 1,830 meters of

elevation. Very fine drizzle rains, called "bajareques," are frequent and the

light rain with thin drops crossed by solar radiation that makes it frequent

the optical phenomenon of the rainbow. The precipitation regime involves a season

short drought not very pronounced. The drought is due to the northern trade winds that not only
it hinders ascents, but also causes desiccating orographic subsidence,

upon crossing the mountain ranges.

In the rainy season, heavy rainfall corresponds to the rains.

orographic by the ascent of southern trade winds and convective rains. In May-

June and then, in September-October, to equatorial or equinoctial rains due to the

pass of the intertropical convergence zone.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

De Martonne, Emmanuel:
Treatise on Physical Geography/by Emmanuel De Martonne --- Volume I, Editorial
Youth, Barcelona, 1964, 511 p.

Statistical and Census Department:

Meteorology. Years 1988 - 1989 --- Panama, 1992, 71 p.

Directorate of Statistics and Census:

Meteorology. Years 1990-1991 --- Panama, 59 p.

Directorate of Statistics and Census:

Meteorology. Year 1992 --- Panama, 1995, 98 p.

Directorate of Statistics and Census:

Meteorology. Years 1993 and 1994 --- Panama, 1996, 67 p.

Directorate of Statistics and Census:

Meteorology. Year 1995 --- Panama 1997, 49 p.

Statistics and Census Department:

Meteorology. Years 1996 - 1997 --- Panama, 1999.

Institute of Hydraulic Resources and Electrification

Monthly precipitation by year in the Republic of Panama, 1980 - 1972
IRHE, Panama, 341 p., map of isohyets.

National Geographic Institute 'Tommy Guardia':

National Atlas of the Republic of Panama --- Panama, 1988, 222 p.

Miller, Albert.
Meteorology/by Albert Miller --- Editorial Labor, S.A., Barcelona, 1972.

Odum, Eugene P.
Ecology / by Eugene P. Odum --- New Inter-American Publishing S.A.
Mexico, 1972, 639 p.

Rubio, Angel and Guzmán, Louis:

Panamanian geographical regions / by Angel Rubio and Louis Guzmán ---
University of Panama, 1959, 13 p.
Sorre, Maximilien: Biological Foundations of Human Geography/by
Maximilien Sorre, Editorial Juventud, Barcelona, 1955, 304 p.

Tosi, Joseph A:
Life zones. An ecological basis for forestry research and
Forest Inventory in the Republic of Panama/by Joseph A. Tosi --- Program
United Nations for Development. United Nations Organization for
Agriculture and Food, Rome, 1971, 88 p.

Tricart, Jean:
The modeling of warm regions. Forests and savannas / by Jean TRicart ---
Publishing Company of Higher Education, Paris, 1964, 311 p.

Viers, Georges.
Climatology
p.
 CLIMATES OF PANAMA
N

Caribbean Sea

Pacific Ocean

20 0 20 40 kilometers
Legend
Scale 1:1,000,000
Low Lands Highlands
Tropical oceanic Oceanic of low mountain
Tropical oceanic with a short dry season Low mountain tropical
Sub-equatorial with dry season Medium and high mountain tropical
Tropical with an extended dry season
Prepared by: Alberto McKay
Cartography: Xenia Batista and Mario Pineda Falconett

Bocas del Toro NAME OF GOD GOOD VIEW GARACHINÉ THE ORANGES T
H
E
PA
M
LT
R
E
E BAJOGRANDE

600 600 600 600 600 600 600

Precipitation Precipitation
500 500 500 500 500 500 Precipitation 500
Precipitation Precipitation Precipitation

400 400 400 400 400 Precipitation 400 400

300 300 300 300 300 300 300

200 200 200 200 200 200 200

100 100 100 100 100 100 100

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
E F M A M J J A O N D E F M A M J J A S O N D E F M A M J J A S O N D E F M A M J J A S O N D E F M A M J A S O N D E F M A M J J A S O N D E F M A M J J A S O N D