Climograph and Koppen's Classification of Climate

Author: Chen Kuo-yen

Abstract：

Among the various types of classification of climate, Koppen's classification system is the most widely used for teaching and studying of Geography. This clas-sification is based upon the mean annual and monthly temperature and precipita-tion. Native vegetation is looked upon as the best expression of the totality of climate so that many of the climate boundaries are selected with vegetation limits in mind. A unique and distinctive feature of the system is the employment of an ingenious symbolic nomenclature in designating the climatic types. Each tyn of climate is described by a formula consisting of a combination of letters, and each of which has a precise meaning.
The essential feature of climagraph is the plotting of two elements of climate against one another. For example, the mean monthly temperature of a station may be plotted against the mean monthly precipitation of the same station. Each calendar month is represented by a point and the point can be connected to form a closed circuit representative of the annual cycle. The utility of such a graph lies in the fact that a particular climate is represented by a figure of distinctive shape. Station having the same shapes and located on the same portion of the climagraph can be assigned to a particular climate type.
In this paper, the feature of climograph is used as a means to classify climate which was invented by W, Koppen.

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