Characteristic surface energy balances for different climate types

Abstract

An attempt is made to answer the question of whether the different climate types of the Koppen-Geiger classification are also characterized by distinct annual courses of the surface energy balance terms. For this purpose the KoppenGeiger climate map was linked with Budyko's atlas of the heat balance of the Earth. For every climate area shown on the Koppen-Geiger map (and classified by a certain combination of up to three letters) the annual course of the energy balance terms was extracted from Budyko's atlas and plotted as an energy balance diagram. Then the annual courses of the energy balance terms of all areas classified as equable by Koppen-Geiger (i.e. being characterized by the same combination of up to three letters) and independent of where in the world they occur could be compared. It became evident from this that each climate type (characterized by a certain letter combination) shows a distinct structure for its energy balance diagram. Thus there is an unambiguous relationship between the Koppen-Geiger classification and the distinctive structure of the annual course of the components of the surface energy balance. There is only one exception: the BSh climate, with its transitional character throughout the world.

Computer assisted Koeppen climate classification: a case study for Brazil

“…Koeppen's system is useful for climate research, as shown by Fraedrich et al (2001) for continental climate shifts, seasonal variation of climate boundaries in the USA (Suckling and Mitchell, 2000), and comparative pedological research (Bockheim, 2005). Also, Koeppen's classified climates describe different surface-energy balances (Kraus and Alkhalaf, 1995) and are used in model testing and calibration, as shown by Nonomura et al (2003) for vegetation cover in Africa, and by Kalvova et al (2003) in general circulation models. Most criticisms of Koeppen's system are related to the rigid boundary criteria (Stern et al, 2000) that, in some cases, include diverse natural landscape features in the same climate class, as a result there is a strong internal variability of important climate elements (Triantafyllou and Tsonis, 1994).…”