Koeppen’s Classification of Climatic Regions of India
- Koeppen’s Classification of Climatic Regions of India is an empirical classification based on mean annual and mean monthly temperature and precipitation data.
- Koeppen identified a close relationship between the distribution of vegetation and climate.
- He selected certain values of temperature and precipitation and related them to the distribution of vegetation and used these values for classifying the climates.
- Koeppen recognized five major climatic groups, four of them are based on temperature and one on precipitation.
- The capital letters:
- A, C, D and E delineate humid climates and
- B dry climates.
- The climatic groups are subdivided into types, designated by small letters, based on seasonality of precipitation and temperature characteristics.
- The seasons of dryness are indicated by the small letters : f, m, w and s, where
- f – no dry season,
- m – monsoon climate,
- w – winter dry season and
- s – summer dry season.
- The above mentioned major climatic types are further subdivided depending upon the seasonal distribution of rainfall or degree of dryness or cold.
- The capital letters S and W are employed to designate the two subdivisions of dry climate:
- semi-arid or Steppe (S) and
- arid or desert (W).
- Capital letters T and F are similarly used to designate the two subdivisions of polar climate
- tundra (T) and
- icecap (F).
Region |
Avg Temperature |
Annual Rainfall |
Himalayan Region |
Sumer = 4°-7°C Winter = 13°-18°C |
East = Over 200 cm West = much less |
North-western Region Northern parts of
Punjab and southern parts of Jammu and Kashmir |
Summer = 16°C Winter = 24°C |
Below 200 cm |
Arid Lowland Thar desert of
Rajasthan, south western part of Haryana and Kachchh of Gujarat |
Winter = 16° to 24°C Summer = 48°C |
Below 40 cm |
Region of moderate
rainfall Punjab, Haryana,
western Uttar Pradesh, Union Territory of Delhi, north-west Plateau area of
Madhya Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan |
Winter = 15°-18°C Summer = 33°-35°C |
40 – 80 cm |
Transitional Zone Eastern Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar |
Winter = 15°-19°C
Summer = 30° – 35°C |
100 -150 cm |
Tropical India |
||
Region of very heavy
rainfall Meghalaya, Assam,
Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland |
Winter = 18°C in
Summer = 32°-35°C |
Over 200 |
Region of heavy
rainfall Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh |
Winter = 18°-24°C Summer = 29°-35°C |
100 – 200 cm |
Region of moderate
rainfall between Western and
Eastern Ghats |
Winter = 18°-24°C
Summer = 32°C in |
50 -100 cm |
Konkan Coast Mumbai in the north to
Goa in the south |
Annual = 24°-27°C. |
Over 200 cm |
Malabar Coast Goa to Kanniyakumari |
Annual = 27°C |
Over 250 cm |
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu and
adjoining areas of Andhra Pradesh |
Annual = 24°C |
100 to 150 cm (Retreating monsoon) |
Koeppen’s Scheme – Climatic Regions of
India |
||
Climate type |
Region |
Annual rainfall |
Amw(Monsoon type with
short dry winter season) |
Western coastal
region, south of Mumbai |
over 300 cm |
As(Monsoon type with
dry season in high sun period) |
Coromandel coast =
Coastal Tamil Nadu and adjoining areas of Andhra Pradesh |
75 – 100 cm [wet winters, dry
summers] |
Aw(Tropical Savanah
type) |
Most parts of the
peninsular plateau barring Coromandel and Malabar coastal strips |
75 cm |
BShw(Semi-arid Steppe
type) |
Some rain shadow areas
of Western Ghats, large part of Rajasthan and contiguous areas of Haryana and
Gujarat |
12 to 25 cm |
BWhw(Hot desert type) |
Most of western
Rajasthan |
less than 12 cm |
Cwg(Monsoon type with
dry winters) |
Most parts of the Ganga
Plain, eastern Rajasthan, Assam and in Malwa Plateau |
100 – 200 cm |
Dfc(Cold, Humid
winters type with shorter summer) |
Sikkim, Arunachal
Pradesh and parts of Assam |
~200 cm |
Et(Tundra Type) |
Mountain areas of
Uttarakhand The average
temperature varies from 0 to 10°C |
Rainfall varies from
year to year. |
E(Polar Type) |
Higher areas of Jammu
& Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in which the temperature of the warmest
month varies from 0° to 10°C |
Precipitation occurs
in the form of snow |
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