Methods of Climate Classification

Climate is a complex abstract concept, and, since the appearance of climatology as a science, many definitions of the concept have been given. In this chapter, when speaking about the climate of an area, we shall mean the naturally determined regime that creates the weather sequence in the area, conditioned by solar radiation, underlying surface, atmospheric circulation and other controlling factors. To characterize climate quantitatively, it is necessary to use data on different meteorological elements, such as air temperature, precipitation, humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloudiness, wind, and various atmospheric phenomena. As a result of the large number of factors that have an influence on climatic patterns, there are no two parts of the earth with absolutely identical climates. Nevertheless, it is evident that many well separated regions of the world have quite similar climatic conditions.