GEOG 342:

CLIMATOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO CLIMATOLOGY

Introduction to
Climatology
Climatology is the science that seeks to
describe and explain the nature of climate,
why it differs from place to place, and how it
is related to other elements of the natural
environment and to human activities.
The term comes from the Greek words,
klima, referring to the supposed slope of
the earth and approximating our concept of
latitude, and logos, a discourse or study.

Introduction to
Climatology

Climatology is closely allied with, but

often confused with Meteorology and
although they study similar things,
they are separated by the length of
time over which they operate.
Meteorology is the study of weather.

 Weather
The state of the atmosphere; mainly with
respect to its effects upon human activities.
Short term variability of the atmosphere (time
scales of minutes to months).
Popularly thought of in terms of: temperature,
wind, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness,
brightness, and visibility.
A category of individual/combined atmospheric
phenomena which describe the conditions at
the time of an observation.

Climate
Long term statistical description of the
atmospheric conditions, averaged over a
specified period of time - usually decades.
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Why study Weather?

Warning of severe
weather

November 14, 1854: A sudden

storm devastated a joint BritishFrench fleet near Balaklava in
the Black Sea.

Agriculture

French astronomer Urbain Jean

Joseph Le Verrier (1811-1877)
demonstrated that telegraphed
observations could have given
the ships a day to prepare.

Transport & services

In England, Capt. Robert FitzRoy

(1805-1865) started the
Meteorological Office as a
small department of the board of
trade. On September 3rd 1860,
15 stations began reporting 8am
observations. February 5,1861
started issuing storm warnings to
ports.

Timing of planting,
harvesting, etc to avoid
bad weather, hazards to
livestock
Shipping, aviation, road
gritting, flood warnings,

Commerce

Should a supermarket
order BBQs and
icecream, or umbrellas?

Weather versus Climate

Weather

The condition of atmosphere at a given

time and place

Short-term (and large) fluctuations that arise from internal instabilitie

of the atmosphere

Occurs as a wide variety of phenomena that we often experience

Effects are immediately felt

Social and economic impacts are great but are usually localized

Many such phenomena occur as part of larger-scale organized system

Governed by non-linear chaotic dynamics; not predictable

deterministically beyond a week or two

Weather versus Climate

Climate
Defined as the average state of the atmosphere over a finite time
period and over a geographic region (space).
Can be thought of as the prevailing weather, which includes the
mean but also the range of variations

The wide range of natural variability associated with daily weather

means small climate changes are difficult to detect
Intimate link between weather and climate provides a basis for
understanding how weather events might change under a
changing climate
Climate is what you expect and weather is what you get.
Climate tells what clothes to buy, but weather tells you what
clothes
to wear.

Climatic Controls
The world's many
climates are
controlled by the
same factors
affecting weather,
a) intensity of
sunshine and its
variation with
latitude,
b) distribution of land
and water,
c) ocean temperature
and currents,
d) mountain barriers,
e) land cover,
f) atmospheric
composition.
This map shows sea-level temperatures (F).

Components of the Climate System

Basic question to be answered in physical
climatology is: what causes the variations in
heat exchange, moisture exchange, and fluid
motion from time to time and place to place?
Or in other words - why do climates differ?
First step in a scientific approach to the
answer is observation. Observations of
intensity and duration of solar radiation,
temperature,
humidity,
evaporation,
cloudiness and fog, precipitation, visibility,
barometric pressure, and winds.

Components of the Climate System

Their occurrence in a particular combination
results from transfers of energy and mass in the
climate system.
The transfer processes are in turn influenced by
differences in latitude, altitude, land and water
surfaces, mountain barriers, local topography, and
such gross atmospheric features as prevailing
winds, air masses, and pressure centers.
Climates exhibit both spatial
variations throughout the world.

and

temporal

Components of the Climate System

Regional Climatology
Regional climatology has its goal in the
orderly arrangement and explanation of
spatial
patterns.
It
includes
the
identification
of
significant
climate
characteristics and the classification of
climate types, thus providing a link
between the physical bases of climate and
the investigation of problems in applied
climatology.

Scales of Climate
Microclimate the climate of a site (e.g. a climate
station)
Topoclimate the climate of a locality (e.g. a valley or
hillside)
Mesoclimate the climate of a region (e.g. Brong Ahafo
Region of Ghana)
Synoptic Climate the climate of a large area (e.g. a
continent)
Global Climate the climate of the planet