CLIMATOLOGY- An Outline

The Earth is different from the other Planets. The presence of atmosphere is a Unique
feature supporting several things on earth. The air, sea and land constitute the major
portions of the three global spheres as Atmosphere, Hydrosphere and Lithosphere.

Climatology is one of the branches of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Climatology is

the science of studying the average atmospheric conditions of a region in long-term
perspective. It includes a systematic study of atmospheric conditions pertaining to
weather and climate. Climatology aims to study the nature of climate, the causes and
interpretations of its spatial variation and its association with biosphere. It is closely
related to meteorology and geography due to the fact that all global atmospheric
processes are spatially distributed. Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at any
particular time and place. The elements of air temperature, air, pressure, humidity,
clouds, precipitation, visibility and wind that determine the present state of the
atmosphere are called as weather elements.

Climatologists evaluate

1) long-term weather conditions of a vast region over a long period of time.

2) Climate and its distribution on the earth’s surface, horizontally and vertically

3) The effects of human activities on different components of the atmospheric

conditions including weather and climate, and

4) The role of climate and weather on the biosphere and hydrosphere.

The primary goal of Climatology is to study the unique characteristics of atmosphere in

controlling the global climate, origin, types of climates, causes and processes
influencing the climatic variations, elements of weather and the impact of climate on
humans or vice-versa.

There are several branches involved in climatology as Physical Climatology, Regional

Climatology and Applied Climatology. Agricultural climate aviation climate, bio climate,
medical climate, macro climate, micro climate, meso climate, Palaeo climate, Arctic
climate.

The Physical Climatology is mainly concerned with atmospheric phenomena and

climates.

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Regional Climatology deals with regional variations of climatic conditions which
include Micro climate, Local climate, Meso Climate and Macro Climate.

Applied Climatology deals with climatic controls of human activities and the application
of climatic knowledge in solving unique problems faced by human population. The root
for climatology lies in meteorology. It was Greeks who tried to understand the
atmosphere and its influence on life. The first written records about the atmosphere
were given by Hippocrates in 400 B.C. Aristotle brought out the first compendium on
Meteorology as weather science. It was due to the Greeks, the world was divided into
three temperate zones as

a) tropical zone,

b) temperate zone and

c) frigid zone.

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Global and regional study of weather and climate were conducted between 18 and
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19 Centuries using improved and standardized instruments and sensors. The first
classification of clouds was done as early as 1803.

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The 20 century has witnessed the advancement in tools and techniques to obtain
regular and accurate data on weather and climate. Satellite based continuous
monitoring of the whole globe helps to understand the trends in weather and climate.

The subject of Climatology involves a lot of scientific concepts, principles, measurements and
interpretations in addition to the basic understanding of the atmospheric processes. In this
episode about 30 broad areas of the subject Climatology are highlighted.

In this episode the following aspects of climatology are highlighted.

1. Conditions of the Atmosphere

2. Dynamics of the Atmosphere

3. Atmospheric Disturbances

4. World Climatic Types

5. Changing Global Climates

I. Conditions of the Atmosphere

Under the conditions of the atmosphere the following aspects are to be understood.
 a) Elements of Weather and Climate

b) Structure and Composition of the Atmosphere

c) Insulation and Energy balance

d) Atmospheric Temperature

a) Atmospheric Pressure and Motion

a) Elements of Weather and Climate:

The term weather refers to the sum total of short term variations in atmospheric
conditions in terms of temperature, pressure, wind, water vapour, clouds, precipitation
and visibility. The term climate refers to the long-term aggregate of weather conditions
of a region (or) the globe, in terms of several atmospheric parameters.

Microclimate - Small climatic region

Small area of the Earth’s Surface (an acre to several
Mesoclimate - Square
Kilometers)
Macroclimate - much layer area (state/country)
Global climate - entire Globe

The following are the elements of weather and climate:

1. Temperature

2. Air Pressure

3. Wind

4. Humidity

5. Precipitation

6. Cloudiness

These elements are controlled by various factors like latitude, altitudes, unequal
distribution of land and water, air-sea interface, ocean water circulation and
geomorphological conditions.

b) Structure and Composition of the Atmosphere:

The multilayered gaseous envelope attached to the planet earth is the atmosphere. It
is a unique sphere of air, gases and water vapour. The height of this huge mass is
estimated to range from 16000 to 29000 KM from the sea level. This is an essential
environmental segment for the life support systems of biosphere and hydrosphere.
Under the umbrella of Climatology, the structure and composition of the atmosphere
are studied first. An understanding of the thickness and disposition of different layers
like troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere are needed. The vertical variation in
temperature and concentration of gases have a significant impact on global scales.
The layer concerning with weather and climate, is troposphere.

Atmosphere is composed of three major constituents as gases, water vapor and

aerosols. Some are permanent (or) constant gases and some are variable gases.
They obey Boyle’s gas Law, Lussac’s Law, Charle’s Law and combined gas law.

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c) Insolation and Energy Balance

The Energy system of the Earth involves, Solar Radiation, gravity and geothermal sources. The
Solar energy plays a very significant role in heating the earth’s surface, and the atmosphere.
Because of these, it is responsible for the movement of air and oceanic currents. The radiant
energy is the driving force for the global water cycle, rock and the biogeochemical cycles.
Without Sunlight, there is no photosynthesis in plants, and there may not be any food for the
other life. Climatology involves the study of

Insolation

Flow of Energy

Absorption of radiation

Emission of Radiation

Distribution of Radiation

Heat Budget (or) Energy balance

Human influence on radiation balance

The Sun is the ultimate source of energy on earth. Radiant energy is the energy
propagated in the form of electromagnetic waves. These waves do not need
molecules to propagate them, and in a vacuum they travel at nearly 3, 00,000 Km per
second. Isolation is maximum at tropics and decreases towards poles. (75% at
equator, 50% along Arctic/Antarctic circles and 40% at poles)

The factors influencing insolation are:

a) The angle of incidence,

b) The Length of the day and

c) The transparency of the atmosphere

 d) Heating and Cooling of the atmosphere

a) Radiation

b) Conduction

c) Convection

d) Atmospheric Temperature:

Sun is the major source of temperature in the atmosphere and also in the oceans.
Heating and Cooling of the atmosphere is controlled by direct Sunlight. There is also a
transfer of energy from the earth through convection, conduction and re-radiation.

The processes of heating of the atmosphere are:

Convection - upward movement of air

Conduction - High Temperature - Low temperature

a body emits radiant energy in the form of heat. Re-radiation
Radiation - also
heats the air.

Climatology involves the study

of Transfer of heat energy

Heating and Cooling of the

atmosphere Mean Temperatures

Distribution of Temperature
Inversion of Temperature
Role of temperature in other environmental segments like Hydrosphere and biosphere.

The Heating of the atmosphere involves

a) Radiation,

b) Conduction and

c) Convection

The proportion of Solar Radiation falling on a non-luminous body which the latter
reflects is known as Albedo. It is the reflective quality of the Surface. It is the reflective
quality of the surface. Albedo of Earth is 0.3 (about 30% of the Solar radiation is
reflected back into the space).

The distribution of temperature varies horizontally and vertically. The uneven

distribution of temperature comes due to
 a) Latitude

b) Distribution of land and sea

c) Relief and altitude

d) Ocean Currents

e) Planetary Winds

f) Vegetal Cover

g) Nature of the Soil

h) Slope and aspect

e) Atmospheric Pressure and Motion.

Air is mixture of gases and hence has its own weight. Air exerts pressure. Atmospheric
pressure is maximum at sea level. It decreases with increasing altitudes. Air pressure
varies vertically and horizontally. The distribution of atmospheric pressure is controlled
by altitude, temperature, air circulation, earth’s rotation, water vapour and other
factors. Climatology studies the

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Pressure Gradient

· Pressure Types

· Variations in atmospheric pressure.

· Horizontal distribution of air pressure

· Pressure belts and shifting of Pressure belts

· Atmospheric motion and air circulation

· Geostrophic wind and Gradient Wind

· Wind direction and speed

· Classification of Wind

The horizontal distribution of air pressure depends on

a) Air temperature

b) Earth’s rotation and

c) Zones of low (or) high pressure.

 A. Dynamics of the Atmosphere

Under the Concept of Dynamics of the Atmosphere the following aspects are to
be understood.

a) The Atmospheric Circulation

b) The Local and Seasonal Winds

c) Atmospheric Humidity and Condensation

d) Fogs, their origin and types

e) Clouds, their origin and types

f) Precipitation and its distribution

a) Atmospheric circulation:

The movement of air in the atmosphere is known as atmosphere circulation. Atmospheric

circulation denotes the motion of air due to pressure gradient from local to global scales. It has
spatial and temporal patterns of circulation components. It involves

a) Primary Circulation (or) long term circulation

b) Secondary Circulation

c) Seasonal Circulation and

d) Diurnal Circulation

Primary Circulation = trade winds, westerly winds and polar winds

Secondary Circulation = Cyclones and anti-cyclones
Seasonal Circulation = Monsoons and air masses
Land/Sea breezes, mountain (or) valley
Diurnal Circulation = breezes

Atmospheric circulation, speed and direction of winds are controlled

by a) Gravitational force

a) Pressure gravitational force

b) Coriolis force

c) Friction force

When a wind above 600 m height blows parallel to the isobars, it is called as
geostrophic wind.
Jet Stream is a strong wind blowing from west to east at high altitude usually near
tropopause (12000m).

110 Kmph – in summer

190 Kmph – in winter

Climatology involves the evaluation of

a) Zonal Circulation of atmosphere as global wind belts

b) Tropical Circulation (Doldrums, Westerlies and trade winds)

c) Mid-latitude Circulation

d) Polar Circulation

e) Meridonial Circulation

f) Jet Streams

g) El Nina and LA NINA

b) Local and Seasonal Winds

Wind is the circulation of air relative to the surface of the earth. Climatology analyses
the local and seasonal winds in detail.

The periodic local winds include the

breezes between land and sea and the

breezes from mountains and valleys.

The non-periodic local winds include

the hot local winds

and Cold Local winds

There are some more types of local winds as

Beneficial local winds and

Non-beneficial local winds

Monsoon is a complex phenomena of the atmosphere.

a) Thermal concept Origin of

Monsoons

b) Dynamic concept
Monsoon refers to the annual cycle of dryness and wetness, with seasonally shifting
winds produced by changing atmosphere, pressure systems.

The study of Seasonal Winds provides detailed large-scale information on Monsoons.

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Monsoon is a flow pattern of general atmospheric circulation over a wide geographical
area with a clear and dominant wind in one direction during one season and in reverse
direction during the other season. Climatology involves the study of Monsoons, their
origin, types and distribution.

Seasonal characteristics of Indian Monsoons.

c) Atmospheric Humidity and Condensation

The term Humidity refers to the amount of water vapour present in a parcel of air
having a unit volume and temperature. Water Vapour is released during the process of
evaporation from water bodies of land and oceans. Since water vapour is very
important constituent of the atmosphere, it plays a significant role in controlling the
climate. It is present upto a height of 5 Km from the earth’s surface.

Condensation is the process of converting Water Vapour into liquid and solid forms.

Atmospheric water under goes phase changes through the exchange (or) transfer of
heat energy. The energy in the form of heat required to carry out all these conversions
is called as the Latent Heat.

Climatology deals with the elements of the hydrologic cycle, including

Humidity Capacity of air

Types of Humidity and their

measurement Evaporation & its rate

Evapotranspiration

Condensation & forms of Condensation

(Cooling of air and adiabatic change of temperature)

Stability and instability of the atmosphere

d) Fogs, their origin and Types

Fogs are special types of clouds consisting of minute water droplets existing in
suspension in the air near the ground surface. Fogs generally reduce the horizontal
visibility. Fog is formed when the moist air becomes saturated and reaches its due
point. Further cooling of this mass makes the water vapour to condense around the
dust particles and create the dense smoky Fog.

There are a dozen bases of classification available in climatology to study the types of
Fogs. The major types of Fogs studied are

a) Radiation Fog - Fog produced over land when radiational cooling reduces the
air temperature to or below its dew point. It is also known as ground Fog and
Valley fog.

b) Steam Fog – Evaporation (mixing) Fog

 c) Upslope Fog – Fog formed as moist stable air flows upward over a topographic
barrier.

d) Tropical Air Mass Fog

e) Frontal Fogs

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Fogs are distributed in different parts of the world.

Climatology also analyses the effects of Fogs, and the natural (or) Man induced
dispersal of Fogs.

e) Clouds ,their origin and Types:

Clouds are the aggregates of innumerable tiny water droplets in the atmosphere
above the ground surface. Clouds are formed due to condensation of water vapour.
Global patterns of precipitation depend on the clouds. Clouds play a significant role in
controlling the heat budget of the earth’s surface. The study of clouds involved the

a) Classification of clouds and the

b) Characteristic features of clouds

The structure, altitude, occurrence and appearance of the following types of clouds
are studied in climatology.

a) Cirrus Clouds

b) Cirro-Cumulus Clouds

c) Cirro-stratus Clouds

d) Alto-stratus

e) Alto-cumulus

f) Nimbo-stratus

g) Stratus Cumulus

h) Stratus Clouds

i) Cumulus Clouds

j) Cumulo-nimbus Clouds

Cloud is an aggradation of moisture droplets and ice crystals that are suspended in air
and are great enough in volume and density to be visible. Condensation is the process
of change of matter in the gaseous state to the liquid state or solid water state. (water
vapor to water or ice).

f) Precipitation & its Distribution

The term precipitation refers to the fall of atmospheric moisture either in the form of
liquids or solids.

Climatology includes the study of precipitation, its measurement over space and time.
The forms of precipitation include rain, drizzle, snow, ice pellets, hail, and sleet.
Among these, rain is the most widespread form of precipitation.

There are three types of rainfall as

a) Convectional rainfall

b) Orographic Rainfall

c) Cyclonic (or) frontal rainfall

The global distribution of precipitation is very wide. The mean annual rainfall of the
globe is 970 mm. The factors controlling Precipitation Distribution are:

1. Moisture content of the air

2. Convergent (or) divergent air circulation

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Topographic conditions

1. Distance from the source of moisture

In addition to these, climatology also includes the study of various rainfall regimes:

a) Equatorial Rainfall Regime

b) Tropical Rainfall Regime

c) Monsoonal Rainfall Regime

d) Continental Rainfall Regime

e) Mediterranean Rainfall Regime

f) Maritime Rainfall Regime

III . Atmospheric Disturbances:

Atmospheric disturbances include the basic understanding of air masses, and extreme
events in the atmosphere.

Air Masses

The term Air Mass is used to denote a large body of air whose dominant Physical
properties are more or less uniform horizontally and vertically for hundreds of Km.
Temperature and moisture are the two major properties. Air mass controls the weather
conditions of an area. It plays a major role in the transfer of energy in the atmosphere
through its movement.

Air Masses are subjected to Thermodynamic and Mechanical Modification. Due to

these, air masses are divided into cold air and warm air masses.

Climatology attempts to classify the air masses, based on thermodynamic and

geographical factors.

The term Air Front is used to denote the sloping boundary between two opposing air
masses having contrasting physical properties. These properties are temperature,
humidity, pressure and wind direction. Air fronts differ from each other in terms of their
location and spread. The term Frontogenesis is used to describe the processes of
formation of new fronts, and decaying old fronts.

The conditions responsible for frontogenesis are:

a) Temperature difference and

b) Opposite directions of air masses

Air fronts are classified based on their characteristics as Warm Front, Cold Front,
Occluded Front and Stationary Front.

Earth’s surface has three major frontal zones as

a) Polar frontal Zone

b) Arctic frontal Zone

c) Inter tropical frontal Zone

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Weather associated with warm and cold fronts are also studied in Climatology

Cyclones are the centres of low atmospheric pressure in which air blows inwards in
anticlockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and clockwise direction in the
Southern hemisphere. Cycles are considered to be the major atmospheric
disturbances. They are classified into

a) Extra tropical cyclones (Temperate) and

b) Tropical Cyclones – One of the most powerful and destructive types of cyclonic
storms is the

tropical cyclone. It is also known as Hurricane or Typhoon.

These are semi-circular, elliptical, elongated and V-shaped zones.

Anticyclones are opposite in character to those of cyclones. It shows divergent air

circulation in all directions from a high pressure centre. These are circular in shape
covering larger area

Extreme Events in Atmosphere

Extreme events are those which are originated by natural or human factors causing
severe impact on the environment like a hazard. These events exceed the tolerable
magnitude in the atmosphere causing irreparable loss to life and properties.
Atmospheric extreme events include

Severe Storms, lighting, hailstorm and thunderstorms.

Tropical cyclones are low pressure systems having a diameter of 650 Km moving with
an energy equivalent to 10000 atomic bombs. They are called as hurricanes in the
North Atlantic Ocean and as Typhoons in the

North Pacific Ocean. The wind speed may be as high as 180 to 400 Km per hour,
giving a rainfall of 2000 mm per day, as seen in the Philippines.

Thunderstorm develops in three stages as

a) Cumulus Stage

b) Mature Stage

c) Dissipating Stage

It may be an air mass thunderstorm, frontal thunderstorm or thermal (or) local

thunderstorm. Tornadoes are funnel shaped violent dark storms where in the upper
portion is like an umbrella and the lower portion is like a pipe touching the ground
surface. It is a small, intense cyclone in which the air is spiraling at tremendous
velocity. It appears as a dark funnel cloud.

Climatology also includes the impacts of hazards and their side effects like floods.
IV. World Climatic Types:

Under the concept of World Climatic Types the distribution of Climatic Types and
Biomes and classification of Climatic Types are studied in detail.

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a) Classification of Climates:

The world is rich in holding many endless varieties of climatic types. The factors that
produce the climate in any given place are called climatic controls.

They are:

a) Intensing of sunshine and its variation with latitude

b) Distribution of land and water.

c) Ocean currents

d) Prevailing winds

e) Positions of high and low pressure areas

f) Mountain barriers and

g) Altitude.

Both Vertical and horizontal variation of climate are analysed in Climatology. Climate has a
spatial scale with an areal boundary possessing identical weather and climatic characteristics
in terms of insolation, temperature, atmospheric circulation and pressure, humidity and
precipitation. These have a profound influence on vegetation, soil and fauna of different regions
of the world. World climates depend on the nature of parameters like temperature and
precipitation and their influence over fauna and flora of ecosystems. Several climatic zones
have been identified so far. They are also classified based on empirical, numerical and genetic
approaches. The important schemes are:

1. Koppen’s multi tiered classification system

2. Thornthwaite’s Classification

3. Genetic Classification

4. Composite Classification

b) Climatic Types and Biomes:

In the past, climates were determined based on travel, regional knowledge and
latitude. An early attempt to classify Earth’s climates was Aristotle’s temperature, torrid
and Frigid Zones. Today, climate classifications are based on the causes and effects
of climate.

The World’s climate belongs to 3 major groups as

a) Tropical Climates

b) Middle Latitude Climates

c) Polar and Highland Climates

There are several sub climates identified based on location, temperature, air pressure,
winds, precipitation and effects of climate on vegetation. A biome is a large natural
identical ecosystem having a unique assemblage of plant and animal communities
having definite distributional patterns in terms of climatic and soil conditions.

The world biomes are also classified into 3 major groups as

a) Tropical biomes (Rain forest, Monsoon Forest, Savanna, Sahara)

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a) Temperate biomes (Forests, Grassland, Mediterranean, Humid, Steppe, Boreal)

b) Tundra Biomes (Arctic, Alpine) and these include more number of sub orders.

V. Changing Global Climates

Under the concept of Changing Global Climates the climatic change, global warming
and atmospheric chemistry and weather forecasting are to be studied in detail.

a) Climatic Change

The climate is always changing. Evidence shows that climate has changed in the past
And there is also evidence that It will also change in future.

Variations in Earth’s climatic conditions are seen in both space and time. The reason
behind this variation is the dynamic nature of the atmosphere. Global climate may
change due to natural causes and man-made activities. The term climatic change is
used to denote the variations in weather conditions over space and time leading to
modification of the climatic type of a region. The change may occur drastically or
gradually. The notable modifications may come in moisture, cloudiness precipitation,
and in the heat balance of the earth-atmosphere system. The changes may be cyclic
and rhythmic. Similar changes have occurred in the geological history of the past
during ice-ages of Precambrian, Ordovician, Carboniferous and Pleistocene periods.

Climate change can adversely affect the lives of millions.

The climatic controls interact to produce a wide variety of different climates. No two
places experience exactly the same climate. The similarity of climates within a given
area allows us to divide the earth into various climatic regions.

The indicators of climatic changes are

1. Biological Indicators (Floral, Faunal remain in fossils)

2. Geological Indicators (Sedimentary deposits)

3. Cryogenic Indicators (ice ages, glaciers, ice sheets)

4. Tectonic Indicators (Sea floor spreading and sea level changes)

5. Geomorphological Indicators

6. Historical records of droughts and floods and migration of man and animals.

Dendrochronology is one aspect coming under these analyses.

There are several theories and causes of climatic changes. In Climatology all of them
are studied to understand the past and predict the future.

b) Global Warming and Atmospheric Chemistry

Global Warming refers to increase in global surface and atmospheric temperature

affecting the global radiation balance. It comes due to many anthropogenic activities
leading to climatic changes at local, regional and global levels. The rising trend of air

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temperatures after the industrial revolution (1860 A D ) is evidence for human factors
involved in Climatic changes. The increase in air-temperature and melting of ice
sheets and Glaciers are inter-related global phenomena. Ozone depletion due to
various environmental factors including the release of greenhouse gases is the
causative mechanisms of Global Warming. Emissions of carbon-di-oxide due to
burning of fire woods and fossil fuels increase in nitrous oxides and methane due to
various land use changes and agricultural practices affecting the climatic parameters
of the atmosphere. The Global mean surface air temperature has increased up to
0
0.6 C since the last century. Global sea level has risen by 25 cm over the past 100
years.

All of these have modified some portions of atmospheric chemistry, which have shown
several environmental effects as a consequence.

c) Weather Forecasting

Weather Forecasting is a major field of predicting the weather conditions comprising

the temperature of atmospheric air, movement of wind, humidity, sunshine hours,
cloudiness, precipitation and atmospheric disturbances over a place or region, well in
advance. Different sources of weather and climatological data are collected on daily,
weekly, monthly and annual bases from global network of observatories and used to
forecast. Global life is fully dependent on the knowledge of weather for carrying out
various domestic and industrial activities. Weather Forecasts are of various types as

a) Short-range weather forecasts (upto 48 hours)

b) Medium-range weather forecasts (3 days to 2 weeks)

c) Long-range weather forecasts (2 weeks to seasons)

The forecasting methods may include

a) Synoptic forecasting methods

b) Statistical forecasting method and

c) Numerical forecasting method

Weather types are certain weather patterns categorized into similar groups. Used as
an aid in weather forecasting.

Weather warming, is a forecast indicating that hazardous weather is either imminent

(or) actually occurring within the specified forecast area. Weather watch is a forecast
indicating that atmospheric conditions are favourable for hazardous weather to occur
over a particular region during a specified time period.
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