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English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

Climatology: the atmosphere, winds, weather systems and world climates

Climatology: the atmosphere, winds, weather systems and world climates for UPSC Prelims and Mains, taught in 4 parts. Each part has tables, exam traps, a recap and practice questions, and every paragraph is explained in Malayalam.

Quick recap: Quick recap: climatology on one page

All four parts condensed for quick revision: the layers of the atmosphere, insolation, the heat budget and temperature; pressure belts, the forces on winds, planetary and local winds and jet streams; humidity, rainfall, air masses, fronts and cyclones; and the Köppen classification of world and Indian climates.

Parts of this chapter

Part 1

The atmosphere, insolation and temperature

What the air is made of, the layers of the atmosphere from the troposphere to the exosphere and the ozone layer, insolation and the factors that control it, how the atmosphere is heated and the greenhouse effect, the heat budget and albedo, the distribution of temperature and isotherms, and temperature inversion. Part 2

Pressure belts, winds and jet streams

How atmospheric pressure is measured and mapped with isobars, the pressure belts and the ITCZ, the pressure gradient and Coriolis forces and friction, cyclonic and anticyclonic circulation, the planetary winds and the three cells, monsoons, land, sea, mountain and valley breezes, local winds, and jet streams. Part 3

Moisture, air masses, fronts and cyclones

Humidity, dew point and latent heat; dew, frost, fog and the cloud types; forms of precipitation and convectional, orographic and frontal rain with the rain-shadow; air masses and fronts; tropical cyclones, their structure, regional names and storm surge, and how IMD grades and names north Indian Ocean storms; temperate cyclones, thunderstorms and tornadoes. Part 4

World climates and their classification

Weather and climate, and why climates are classified; the Köppen scheme, its five main groups and the letters for seasonal rainfall and summer heat; equatorial, tropical monsoon and savanna climates; hot deserts, steppes and mid-latitude deserts; Mediterranean, China-type and marine west coast climates; humid continental, taiga, tundra, ice cap and highland climates; and India's climatic regions under Köppen.

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