In the Koppen code BShw, what does the capital letter S stand for?
- A.Summer rainfall
- B.Steppe or semi-arid climate
- C.Snow climate
- D.Subtropical climate
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, steppe or semi-arid climate. Within the dry B group Koppen used two capital letters for the degree of dryness, S for the steppe, which is semi-arid, and W for the desert, which is fully arid, so BShw describes a hot semi-arid climate with a dry winter. Option A is wrong because the season of rainfall is shown by the small letters w, s, f and m, not by a capital. Option C is wrong because snow climates are the D group, written with a capital D, and have nothing to do with the dry group. Option D is wrong because Koppen has no capital letter for the subtropics; warm temperate climates form the C group. In India the BShw belt covers north-western Gujarat and parts of western Rajasthan and Punjab, surrounding the BWhw core of the Thar.
Read the full article: Koppen Climatic Regions of India: Types, Letters and Areas
Practice Questions
View allKoppen's classification of climate is based primarily on which two elements?
- A.Air pressure and wind direction
- B.Monthly mean temperature and precipitation
- C.Latitude and altitude
- D.Soil type and drainage
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Koppen, who was a botanist as well as a climatologist, held that natural vegetation is the best single index of climate, and he fixed his boundaries using the monthly values of temperature and rainfall that vegetation belts seem to follow.
Read the full explanation →In Koppen's scheme, which climatic type is found on the west coast of India south of Goa?
- A.As
- B.Aw
- C.Amw
- D.Cwg
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The code stands for a monsoon climate with a short dry season: the Malabar coast is hot in every month, so the capital A applies, and it receives extremely heavy rain from the south-west monsoon, leaving only a brief dry spell.
Read the full explanation →The As type of climate, a monsoon climate with dry summer, is found in India only along the
- A.Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu
- B.Konkan coast of Maharashtra
- C.Coast of Odisha
- D.Coast of Gujarat
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This coast lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats while the south-west monsoon blows, so its summer is comparatively dry, and it gets most of its rain between October and December from the retreating monsoon and the north-east monsoon, which is exactly what the small letter s records.
Read the full explanation →In Koppen's classification of Indian climates, the code BWhw, the hot desert type, is given to
- A.Eastern Rajasthan
- B.Extreme western Rajasthan
- C.Southern Punjab
- D.North-western Gujarat
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The capital B marks a dry climate, the capital W marks the arid or desert subdivision, h marks a hot climate and the last w marks a dry winter, so the whole code describes the heart of the Thar, the driest part of the country.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian state alone is given the Dfc code, a cold humid winter with a short summer?
- A.Sikkim
- B.Himachal Pradesh
- C.Arunachal Pradesh
- D.Meghalaya
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The capital D marks a cold snow forest climate in which the coldest month falls below minus three degrees Celsius, f marks the absence of a dry season and c marks a short summer with fewer than four months above ten degrees Celsius, and in the standard table for India…
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