The Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen Climate Classification divides the Earth's climate into five main climate groups:
- A (tropical)
- B (dry)
- C (temperate)
- D (continental)
- E (polar)
These are subdivided by seasonal precipitation and heat.
It was first published by the Russian-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen and others, notably Rudolf Geiger, hence the system is sometimes also called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system.
The map below shows the distribution (as of the 2006) of climatic zones on the land surface of the Earth to an approximate accuracy of 0.5 degrees. Click on any climate classification type for more details.
Ref: Kottek, M., J. Grieser, C. Beck, B. Rudolf, and F. Rubel, 2006: World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorol. Z., 15, 259-263. doi:10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0130.
