Let’s get to know the Koeppen’s scheme of classification of climate. So this person Wladimir Köppen, who was basically a Russian-German climatologist, he classified the climate of the world by finding a close relationship between the vegetation and the climate of a particular region.
His aim was to make a chart with formulas and notations that would define the climatic boundaries in such a way that it showed close similarity with the existing vegetation.
In simple terms, he looked at the trees and plants of a particular region and then he figured out the relationship between the vegetation and the climate of that region. By finding a close relationship between the two, he created a chart which categorized different climates in groups along with its characteristic traits.
He selected certain values of temperature and precipitation and related them to the distribution of vegetation and used these values for classifying the climates.
He classified the entire world climate by assigning alphabetical letters (capital letters) – A, B, C, D, E, and H. These categories are further subdivided into subdivisions and types by indicating small letters like – a, b, c, d, h, f, m, w, k, and s. Now have a look at this table
Climatic Groups 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 Code |
Characteristics |
| 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
The 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 snow cover |