Climatology

Daily temperature T max / med / min

  • Tmax ≥ 30 ° C.
  • Tmin ≥ 20 ° C
  • Tmax ≥ 25 ° C
  • Tmed <15 ° C / 12 ° C
  • Tmin ≥ 5 ° C
  • Tmin <0 ° C
  • Tmax <0 ° C

The climatology is an interdisciplinary science of the fields of meteorology, geography, geology, oceanography and physics. It explores the laws of climate, so the average state of the atmosphere at a place and in effective processes. For this purpose, the climate science serves such statistical methodology.

Climatological findings arising from the long-term observation and modeling of radiation, temperature, air pressure, winds and wind systems and precipitation and geographical factors, such as longitude and latitude, altitude, surface form, soil and vegetation. Physical atmosphere as well as paleoclimate studies are also reflected in climatological research.

Scales

The climatology is concerned with atmospheric phenomena of different spatial and temporal scales. Because also arise differences in methodology from the large spatial and temporal differences, a three-stage classification of standards has proved.

  • The microclimate is limited to a few meters to a few kilometers, eg a room, a meadow or one block.
  • The meso-climate refers to landscapes or countries to a few hundred kilometers stretch.
  • The macro describes continental and global contexts.

The time scale varies from a few minutes to a micro-turbulence, on daily and monthly changes of the seasons, to years of trends, such as global warming.

Classification

In the climatology areas with similar climatic conditions can be associated with climatic zones according to different systems ( classifications ). The Köppen climate classification used for this purpose, the mean annual temperature and precipitation distribution, shown in a hygrothermal Climate chart. The individual zones with a 2 - to provide 4-digit letter code. As the limit of a climate Wladimir Peter Köppen proposed by the natural circulation of some typical plant species.

Subdisciplines

The climatology and climate research is not sharply defined, closed science, but is concerned as the primary branch of meteorology and geography with the physical phenomena of the Earth's atmosphere and its interaction with the realities of the earth's surface in space and time ( Lauer 1995).

There are four sub-disciplines of climatology:

  • The Theoretical Climatology and General climatology deals with physics of the atmosphere, in particular the composition and structure of the atmosphere, the solar constant, the radiation budget, the heat balance, the air temperature, water balance, precipitation, air pressure and wind, the planetary circulation and recently with the development of air models.
  • The Regional climatology deals with weather and climate in the tropics, subtropics, the extratropical westerlies and the polar regions.
  • The Special climatology deals with climate change, climate history and climate research, such as the greenhouse effect, global warming as well as the vulnerability (vulnerability ) of the systems affected by climate change.
  • The Applied Climatology is concerned with the global warming, especially climate protection and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

Subdisciplines

In addition, many special areas or sub- disciplines of climatology have developed. Some of these overlaps are often the subject of scientific studies, so that solid designations have been established, which can be generally assigned to the special climatology.

  • The Climate Geography mainly studied the interaction of the climate system with other systems, ie, for example ecosystems. In this context, the terms urban and terrain climatology of Climate Geography can be assigned.
  • The Bioclimatology examines the effects of climate on living beings, especially to humans.
  • The terrain climatology deals with the climate of the lower atmosphere, the atmospheric boundary layer. There are mainly the interactions between the atmosphere and the condition of the natural ground surface considered.
  • The urban climatology also studied the climate of the boundary layer, however, observed changes in the climate by urban structures, ie the impact of buildings and roads on the local climate. See: urban climate.
  • Paleoclimatology is engaged in the climate history, so the climate of past times up to the early forms of the earth's atmosphere, it occupies a central position in climatology, geology, however, is attributed.
  • The Historical climatology deals with the climate history in historical times, ie in periods for which these written sources.
  • The Aero climatology refers to the investigation of climate processes in the atmosphere.
  • Radiation climatology examined the effects of the radiation ( such as UV radiation) to air and animals.

Models

The climatology used models to describe complex phenomena. These models are also used as computer models to estimate the impacts of climate change in various scenarios.

The climatological models are used to find possible trends and the weighting of individual factors. They are used for example in urban planning in order to assess the impact of new or modified cultivations can. An example of such a model is the project ClimatePrediction.net that with the methods of distributed computing ( distributed computing ) wants to achieve predictions of climate change in the 21st century, each of which can miteinbringen the computing power of their PC.

Appendix

Swell

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