CLIMATE CLASSIFICATION: KÖPPEN GLOBAL CLIMATE

What is a climate classification?

A climate classification is a tool used to recognize, clarify, and simplify the climatic similarities
and differences between geographic areas in order to help us better understand Earth’s
climates. Classification schemes rely on environmental data, such as temperature, rainfall, and
snowfall, to uncover patterns and connections between climatic processes.

Are there different kinds of climate classifications?

Climate classifications fall into two categories: genetic and empirical. Genetic classifications
group climates by their causes, focusing on how temperature relates to distance from the North
Pole or South Pole or Equator, continentality versus ocean-influenced factors, the effects of
mountains, or combinations of several factors. Genetic classifications are qualitative, and
climatic regions are drawn in a subjective manner. In contrast, empirical classifications—such as
the Köppen climate classification—group each climate type according to one or more aspects of
the climate system, such as natural vegetation.

Who was Wladimir Köppen?

Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) was a German meteorologist and climatologist best known for
his delineation and mapping of the climatic regions of the world. He played a major role in the
advancement of climatology and meteorology for more than 70 years. Köppen’s achievements,
practical and theoretical, profoundly influenced the development of atmospheric science. His
greatest achievement came in 1900, when he introduced his mathematical system of climatic
classification. Each of five major climate types was assigned a mathematical value according to
temperature and rainfall. Since then, many of the systems introduced by other scholars have
been based on Köppen’s work.
What are Köppen’s five main climate types?
The Koppen climate classification was developed by Wladimir Koppen more than a century ago.
Because Koppen was a botanist, he heavily tied climate to vegetation. He also experimented
with weather balloons to plot seasonal temperature ranges.
In the eyes of Koppen, the world consists of 5 climate types:
TROPICAL OR MEGATHERMAL CLIMATES (A): Tropical or megathermal climates are
characterized as having constant warm temperatures.
DRY OR ARID CLIMATES (B): Dry or arid climates have low precipitation rates.
TEMPERATE OR MESOTHERMAL CLIMATES (C): Temperate or mesothermal climates maintain
mild annual temperatures.
CONTINENTAL OR MICROTHERMAL CLIMATES (D): Continental or microthermal climates have
hot summers and cold winters occurring typically at the interior of a continent.
POLAR OR ALPINE CLIMATES (E): Polar or alpine climates sustain consistent cold temperatures
throughout the year.
These classifications can be divided into finer units. So let’s go through each class and explore
where you fit the criteria.
1. Tropical (A)

It’s warm all year round for tropical climates. You can typically find this type of climate near the
equator from 15°N to 15°S latitude.
For example, tropical rainforests are hot, moist regions easily distinguishable by their enormous
trees, diverse species and thick soils.
Tropical climates sustain a healthy portion of high temperature (+18°C) with its lowest mean
monthly air temperature greater than 18 °C.
And you can divide tropical climates further by their amount of precipitations:

Climate Type Criteria

Tropical (A) The lowest mean monthly
temperature is greater than
18°C.
Tropical Precipitation in the driest month
rainforest (Af) is at least 6 cm or greater.
Tropical Precipitation in the driest month
monsoon (Am) is less than 6 cm but more than
4% of total annual precipitation.
Tropical wet Precipitation in the driest month
and dry is less than 10 cm and less than
savannah (Aw) 4% of total annual precipitation
2. Dry (B)

Dry climates are the only category in the Koppen climate classification that isn’t entirely based
on temperature. They are characterized by having a shortage of water with a low annual mean
precipitation rate because water evaporates quickly from its temperatures.
In order to classify dry climates, you calculate the precipitation threshold based on how much
total precipitation falls during the high sun period. In the northern hemisphere, the defined
period is from April to September. But in the southern hemisphere, it’s from October through
March.
If the annual precipitation is less than 50% of the precipitation threshold, the classification is
BW (arid: desert climate). But if it is more than 50%, the Koppen climate classification is BS
(semi-arid: steppe climate). For example, Phoenix, Arizona has an average annual temperature
of 21.8°C. Approximately 38.4% of its annual precipitation falls from April to September.
Because its precipitation threshold is less than 50%, Phoenix, Arizona is an arid desert climate.

Climate Criteria
Type
Arid desert Annual precipitation is less than
(BW) 50% of the precipitation threshold.
Semi-arid Annual precipitation is more than
steppe (BS) 50% of the precipitation threshold.
3. Temperate (C)

Temperate climate types take the middle road for average temperature. These types of
climates are common along the edge of continents.
For example, coastal locations have moderate changes in temperature with mild winters and
summers. Seasonal changes aren’t as extreme as dry climates.
If the average temperature of the warmest month is higher than 10°C and the coldest month is
between 18° and 0°C, then it’s considered a temperature climate.
You can add a second letter that describes precipitation patterns:

Climate Type Criteria

Mild Precipitation in the driest month
temperate dry of summer is less than 1/3 the
summer (Cs) amount in the wettest winter
month.
Mild Precipitation in the driest month
temperate dry of winter is less than 1/10 of the
winter (Cw) amount in the wettest summer
month.
Mild Does not satisfy Cs or Cw climate
temperate types.
humid (Cf)
4. Continental (D)

Continental climates are usually situated in the interior of continents. They have at least one
month with an average temperature below 0°C. Likewise, at least one-month averages above
10 °C.
When you combine continental and dry climate types, they take up a large portion
(approximately 56%) of the surface. It also experiences drastic shifts during seasonal changes.
Typically, continental climates range from 40° to 75° latitudes in the northern and southern
hemispheres. However, this type of climate type is rare in the southern hemisphere.

Climate Type Criteria

Continental Precipitation in the driest month
dry summer of summer is less than 1/3 the
(Ds) amount in the wettest winter
month.
Continental Precipitation in the driest month
dry winter of winter is less than 1/10 of the
(Dw) amount in the wettest summer
month.
Continental Does not satisfy Ds or Dw
humid (Df) climate types.
5. Polar (E)

Lastly, polar climates endure frigid temperatures year-round. The average temperature of the
warmest month in polar climatic zones is below 10°C.
Typically, these types of climates occur in the polar regions, generally greater than 70° latitude
in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Very little vegetation grows in polar types climates because it’s above the tree line. Most icecap
type of climates belong to Inner Greenland and Antarctica.

Climate Criteria
Type
Tundra The average temperature in the
(ET) warmest month is between 10° and
0°C.
Ice Cap The average temperature of the
(EF) warmest month is 0°C or below.
Biomass
The Köppen climate classification is based on the empirical relationship between climate and
vegetation. This classification provides an efficient way to describe climatic conditions defined
by temperature and precipitation and their seasonality with a single metric. Because climatic
conditions identified by the Köppen classification are ecologically relevant, it has been widely
used to map the geographic distribution of long-term climate and associated ecosystem
conditions.
Climate change
Over recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using the classification to identify
changes in climate and potential changes in vegetation over time.[12] The most important
ecological significance of the Köppen climate classification is that it helps to predict the
dominant vegetation type based on the climatic data and vice versa.
In 2015, a Nanjing University paper published in Scientific Reports analyzing climate
classifications found that between 1950 and 2010, approximately 5.7% of all land area
worldwide had moved from wetter and colder classifications to drier and hotter classifications.
The authors also found that the change "cannot be explained as natural variations but are
driven by anthropogenic factors".
A 2018 Nature study provides detailed maps for present and future Köppen-Geiger climate
classification maps at 1-km resolution.