Climatology

Geography
 Climatology

 COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERE

- The air is integral part of the earth’s mass and 99 % of the total mass of the atmosphere is confined to the
height of 32 km from the earth’s surface.
- The atmosphere is composed of gases, water vapour and dust particles.
- The proportion of gases change in the higher layers of the atmosphere in such a way that oxygen will be
almost in negligible quantity at the height of 120 KM, similarly carbon dioxide and water vapour are found
only upto 90km from the surface of the earth.

- Gases: Carbon dioxide is a very important gas as it is transparent to the incoming solar radiation but opaque
to the outgoing terrestrial radiation. It absorbs a part of terrestrial radiation and reflects back some part of it
towards the earth’s surface, hence it is largely responsible for the greenhouse effect.
- Ozone is another important component of the atmosphere found between 10 and 50km above the earth’s
surface
- Water Vapour: They decrease with altitude. In the warm and wet tropics, it may account for four per cent of
the air by volume while in dry and cold areas of desert and polar regions, it may be less than one per cent of
the air. Water vapour also decreases from the equator to the poles. It also absorbs parts of the insolation
from the sun and preserves the earth’s radiated heat.
- Dust Particles: The higher concentration of dust particles is found in subtropical and temprate regions due to
dry winds in comparison to equatorial and polar regions., they act as hygroscopic nuclei around which water
vapour condenses to produce clouds.

 Structure of the Atmosphere

- The density is higher near the surface of the earth and decreases with increasing altitude.
- Troposphere
 It is the lowermost layer of the atmosphere
 Average height is 13km, at pole it is 8km and at equator it is 18 km
 Thickness more at equator because of strong convectional currents.
 This layer contains the dust particles and water vapour.
 All climate and weathering take place here
 The temperature in this layer decreases at the rate of 1oC for every 165m of height. (Lapse rate of
temperature) i.e 6.5 o C for 1000m
- The zone separating the troposphere form stratosphere is known as the tropopause.
- The air temperature at the tropopause is about minus 80 oC at the equator and -45oC over the poles.
- Stratosphere
 It is above the tropopause and extends up to a height of 50 km. (Its height is same for the equator and pole)
(It is thicker at the pole as compared to the equator as equator’s troposphere is more thick)
 It contains the Ozone layer, this layer absorbs ultra violet radiation and shields life on the earth from
intense harmful form of energy.
 Cirrus clouds are found here, and circulation of weak winds.
 Temperature increases with increasing height (due to uv radiation)
- Mesophere
 It extends up to a height of 80km
 As altitude increases the temperature decrease and reaches up to -100oC at the height of 80km.
 The upper limit of mesosphere is known as mesopause.
- Ionosphere/ Thermosphere
 It is located between 80 and 400 km above the mesoapuse, it has electrically charged particles hence it is
known as ionosphere.
 Radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back to the earth by this layer
 Temperature here starts increasing with height.
- Exosphere
 The upper most layer of the atmosphere is known as the exosphere, very little is known about this layer
 ELEMENTS OF WEATHER AND CLIMATE

 Meteorology = study of weather

 Climate is the average atmospheric conditions of an area over a considerable time
 For climatic averages, a minimum period of 35 years is desirable
 The degree of variability in the climate or weather of a country also differs, generally speaking the climate of
temperate latitudes is far more variable than that of the tropics.
 It is said “British has no climate, only weather” & “Egypt has no weather only climate”
 Death rates are normally high in tropical countries and low in deserts, because germs are not transmitted readily
in regions of high temperature and low humidity
 Cool, Fresh mountain air is always good for health

 The elements of weather and climate

- Rainfall
 Rainfall including other forms of precipitation is always measured by a metal instrument called a rain gauge
 The gauge should be at least one foot above the ground.
 The measurement of the rainfall is done by removing the funnel, emptying the rain in the container into a
graduated cylinder with a 1 ½ inch diameter.
 An inch of rainfall means the amount of water that would cover the ground to a depth of 1 inch, provided
none evaporated, drained off or percolated away.
 A rain-day is reckoned as a period of 24 hours with at least 0.01 inch or more rain being recorded.
 If the amount exceeds 0.04 inch, it is consider a wet day
 Only a torrential downpour can account for more than an inch of rainfall in a day
 In temperate regions, snowfall is carefully melted by warming the funnel and then measured.
 The mean annual rainfall is obtained from the averages of annual rainfall taken over a long period of 35
years.
 Places of same rainfall are joined by a line called as isohyets.

- Pressure
 Measured by a barometer.
 The barometer consist of mercury to measure the pressure
 Mercury has been chosen because it is the heaviest liquid known.
 If ordinary water were used, the corresponding column for normal atmospheric pressure would be 34 feets.
 At sea level, the mercury column is 29.9 inches or 760mm of Hg
 If the pressure increases, the air pressing on the surface will force up the mercury column to about 31
inches.
 When the pressure decreases, as less air presses on the surface; the mercury column will drop about 28
inches
 Unit is millibar
 Isobars are lines joining equal pressure
 In temperate latitudes, pressure changes are very rapid in the formation of cylones and anticyclones.
 As the altitude increases, the pressure decreases.
 Since a mercury barometer that dips in liquid mercury is inconvenient for outdoor measurement, a more
portable but less accurate type known as the aneroid barometer is used.
 In planes, a modified type of aneroid barometer called an altimeter is used.
  At every 900 feet, the pressure decreases by 1 inch.

- Temperature
 Thermometer is used.
 A temperature taken in open daylight is very high, because it measures the direct insolation of the sun, it is
described as temperature in the sun.
 For agricultural purposes, earth temperatures are taken at various depths in the ground.
 The temperature that we are so accustomed to in climatic graphs are shade temperatures, that is the
temperature of the air.
 This is done by placing the thermometers in a standard meteorological shelter known as Stevenson Screen
 Maximum and minimum temperatures are measured by the maximum and minimum thermometers.
 They are either in the form of separate thermometers or joined in a U-shaped glass tube as the Six’s
thermometer.
 The difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures of a day gives the diurnal range of
temperature.
 The difference between the hottest month (July) and the coldest mont (January) gives the annual range of
temperature.
 ISOTHERMS
 Temperature decreases at a rate of 6.5degree C for every 1000 meters high

- Humidity
 It is the measure of the dampness of the atmosphere which varies greatly from place to place.
 The exact amount of temperature in the atmosphere is measured in absolute humidity
 Relative humidity is the ratio between the actual amount of water vapour and the total amount the air can
hold at a given temperature expressed as a percentage.
 In the equatorial regions, over 80% is common in the morning.
 When the relative humidity reaches 100 %, the air is completely saturated, the air is said to be at dew-
point.
 The instrument for measuring relative humidity is the hygrometer, which comprises wet and dry bulb
thermometers.

- Winds
 Winds is air in motion and has director and speed.
 The instrument widely used for measuring wind direction is wind vane or weather cock.
 Winds are always named from the direction they blow.
 The speed of wind is usually measured by an anemometer
 The best guide in the speed of the winds is measured from the Beaufort Wind Scale.

- Sunshine
 The amount of sunshine a place receives depends on the seasons, a factor determined by latitude and by the
position of the earth in its revolution around the sun.
 In the meterological station, sunshine duration is recorded by a sun-dial, 4 inches in diameter.
 Places of equal sun-shine are called isohels

- Clouds
 When air rises, it is cooled by expansion.
 After dew-point has reached cooling leads to condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere.
  The amount of cloud-cover in the sky is expressed in eighths or oktas
 Places of equal cloudiness is called isonephs

 Classification of clouds
- High Clouds
 They are mainly cirrus (Ci) of feathery form at 20-40,000 feet above ground.
 Cirrus: This looks fibrous and appears like wisps in the blue sky; it is often called mares tails. It indicate fair
weather, often gives a brilliant sunset

 Cirrocumulus (CC) This appears as white globular masses forming ripples in a mackerel sky

 Cirrostratus (Cs) This resembles a thin white sheet or veil; the sky looks milky and the sun or moon shines
through it with a characteristic halo

- Medium Clouds: mainly alto (Alt) or middle height clouds at 7 – 20,000 feet
  Altocumulus (Alt-Cu) These are wooly, bumpy clouds arranged in layers and appearing like waves in the blue
sky. They normally indicate fine weather

 Altostratus (Alt-St): These are denser, grayish clouds with a watery look. They have a fibrous or striated
structure through which the sun’s rays shine faintly

- Low Clouds: mainly stratus or sheet clouds below 7000 feet

 Stratocumulus (St-Cu) This is rough, bumpy cloud with the waves more pronounced than in altocumulus.

 Stratus (St): This is a very low cloud, uniformly grey and thick, which appears like a low ceiling or highland
fog. It brings dull weather with light drizzle. It reduces the visibility of aircraft and thus a danger
  Nimbostratus (Ni-St) It is known as rain cloud, it brings continuous rain, snow or sleet

- Clouds with great vertical extent: This are mainly cumulus or heap clouds with no definite height
 Cumulus (Cu) This is a vertical cloud with a rounded top and horizontal base, typical of humid tropical
regions, associated with up-rising convectional currents
 Its great white globular masses may look grey against the sun but it is a fair weather cloud
  Cumulonimbus (Cu-Ni) This is an overgrown cumulus cloud, extending for a tremendous vertical height from
a base of 2,000 feet to over 30,000 feet.
o Its black and white globular masses takes a range of shapes
o Its cauliflower top often spreads out like an ANVIL
o It is frequently seen in a tropical afternoons.
o It is also referred to as a thunder cloud and brings convectional rain, accompanied by lightning and
thunder

- Other elements pertaining to visibility

- Haze
 It is caused by smoke and dust particles in industrial areas or may be due to unequal refraction of light in air
of different densities in the lower atmosphere
 Term mainly used in connection with the reduction of visibility in regions of low humidity, less than 75%,
when visibility is less than 1 ¼ miles, haze is present

- Mist
 The condensation of water vapour in the air causes small droplets of water to float in the form of clouds at
ground level called as mist
 It reduces visibility to about 1,000 meters
 Unlike haze, mist occurs in wet air, when the relative humidity is over 75%
 - Fog
 Ordinary fog is due to water condensing on dust and other particles like smoke from houses and factories
 It only occurs in the lower strata of the atmosphere as a sort of dense ground cloud.
 In industrial area, very thick smoky fog is formed called smog, the visibility may be reduced to 220 yards or
even less.
 Fog over a sea is sea fog, fog due to the cooling effect is called radiation fog.
 Fogs are more common over seas than lands.
Dense fogs are more likely to occur in the high and middle latitudes rather than the tropics.

 Evaporation and Condensation

- The temperature at which the water starts evaporating is referred to as the latent heat of vapourisation.
- The transformation of water vapour into water is called as condensation
- The transformation of water vapour directly into solid form is called sublimation
- Condensation depends upon cooling and relative humidity of the air.
- Condensation takes place:
 when the temperature of the air is reduced to dew point with its volume remaining constant
 when both the volume and temperature are reduced
 When moisture is added to the air through evaporation.
- After condensation the moisture in atmosphere can take any of the following forms
 Dew: When the moisture is deposited in the form of water droplets on cooler surfaces of solid objects it is
called as dew. The ideal conditions for its formation are clear sky, calm air, high relative humidity and cold
and long nights. For the formation of dew, it is necessary that the dew point is above the freezing point.
 Frost: On cold surfaces when condensation takes place below the freezing point, the excess moisture is
deposited in the form of minute ice crystals instead of water droplets.
 Fog and Mist : If the temperature of an air mass containing a large quantity of water vapour falls all of a
sudden, condensation takes place within itself on fine dust particles. Because of fog and moist the visibility
becomes poor to zero. When fog is mixed with smoke, it is described as smog. The only difference between
the mist and the fog is that mist contains more moisture than the fog. Mists are frequent in mountains
whereas the Fogs are prevalent where warm currents come in contact with cold current.

 Precipitation
- Apart from rain and snow, the other forms of precipitation are sleet and hail.
- In Sleet, the water vapour after going on a large height freezes but as they fall they melts but between the
surface and the falling water there is another layer which leds to the freezing of water and hence sleet is
formed, which is called refrozen melted snow-water
- In Hail, the surface temperature is above 0 degree C and the water vapour after gaining a height where the
temperature is below 0 degree C becomes ice, they are heavy blocks and does not convert to rain drops as they
fall on the ground, hence we get rain in the form of crystals of ice known as Hails.

 Types of Rainfall
- Convectional Rain
 The air on being heated, becomes light and rises up in convection currents, as it rises it loses heat and
condensation takes place as a result cumulous clouds are formed.
 This rains does not last long, they are common in the summer or in the hotter part of the day.

- Orographic Rain
  When the saturated air mass comes across a mountain, it is forced to ascend and as it rises, it expands; the
temperature falls and the moisture is condensed.
 The area situated on the leeward side, is called as rain shadow area, this rain is also relief rain.

- Cyclonic Rain

 World Distribution of Rainfall

- As we proceed from equator towards the poles, rainfall goes on decreasing, the coastal areas of the world
receive greater amounts of rainfall than the interior of the continents.
- The rainfall is more over the ocean than on the landmasses of the world.
- Between the latitudes 35o and 40 N and S of the equator, the rain is heavier on the eastern coast and goes on
decreasing towards the west, but between 45o and 65o N and S, due to westerlies, the rainfall is first received
on the western margins of the continents and it oges on decreasing towards the east.
- On the basis of total amount of annual precipitation, major precipitation regimes of the world are identified as
follow
 The equatorial belt, windward slopes of the mountain along the western coasts in the cool temperate
zone and the coastal areas of the monsoon land receive heavy rainfall of over 200 cm per annum.
 Interior continental areas receive moderate rainfall varying from 100-200 cm per annum.
 The coastal areas of the continent receive moderate amount of rainfall.
 The central parts of the tropical land and the eastern and interior parts of the temperate land receive
rainfall varying between 50-100 cm per annum.
 Areas lying in the rain shadow zone of the interior of the continents and high latitudes receive very low
rainfall less than 50 cm per annum.

 Water vapour is a prominent factor is trapping the heat.

- Water vapour decreases with altitude hence the hillstations have less water vapours. Due to low water vapour,
heat trapped is less and hill station are closer At places of low altitutde, water vapours are more and hence heat
is more.This is why mountain tops are known as radiation windows.
 SOLAR RADIATION AND HEAT BALANCE ON THE EARTH SURFACE

- Earth receives only a tiny fraction of the total amount of Sun’s radiation, ONLY TWO BILLIONTHS OR TWO
UNITS OF ENERGY OUT OF 1,00,00,00,000 units of energy radiated by the sun reaches the earth’s surface.
- The energy received by the earth as incoming solar radiation is termed as insolation or solar radiation.
- On an average the earth receives 1.94 calories per sq cm per minute at the top of its atmosphere.
- During its revolution around the sun, the earth is the farthest from the sun (152 million km) on 4th July, this
position is known as aphelion, on 3rd January the earth is the nearest to the sun (147 million km), this is known
as perihelion.
- Due to this variation in the distance between the earth and the sun, the annual insolation received by the earth
o 3rd January is slightly more than the amount received on 4th July
 However it does not have a great effect due to regional variations

 Variability of Insolation at the Surface of the Earth

- The factors that cause these variations in insolation are:
 the rotation of earth on its axis
 the angle of inclination of the sun’s ray
o Since the earth is geoid resembling a sphere, the sun’s rays strike the surface at different angles at
different places. This depends on the latitutde of the place
o The higher the latitude, the less is the angle they make with the surface of the earth.
o THE AREA COVERED BY THE VERTICAL RAYS IS ALWAYS LESS THAN THE SLANT RAYS. If more area
is covered, the energy gets distributed and the net energy received per unit area decreases.
o Moreover, the sun’s rays with small angle traverse more of the atmosphere than rays striking at a
large angle.
o Longer the path of the sun’s ray, greater is the amount of reflection and absorption of heat by the
atmosphere, hence the intensity of insolation is less.
 the length of the day (Longer the day, more the insolation)
 the transparency of the atmosphere (More clouds, more water vapours in the atmosphere, less the
radiation received) (They absorbed near-infrared radiation)
 the configuration of land in terms of its aspect.
- The fact that the earth axis makes an angle of 66 ½ with the plane of its orbit round the sun has a greater
influence on the amount of insolation received at different latitudes.
- Second most important factor is inclination of the rays.
- The atmosphere is largely transparent to short wave radiation
- Isohels are lines connecting points on the earth surface that receive equal amounts of sunshine. Isohels are
more or less parallel to latitudes, especially in southern hemisphere.

 Spatial Distribution of Insolation at the Earth’s Surface

- The insolation received at the surface varies from about 320 Watt/m2 in the tropics to about 70 Watt/m2 in
the poles.
- Maximum insolation is received over the subtropical deserts where the cloudiness is the least.
- Equator receives less insolation than the tropics.
- Generally at the same latitude the insolation is more over the continent than over the oceans.
- In winter, the middle and higher latitudes receive less radiation than in summer.
 Terrestrial Radiation
- After being heated by the sun, the earth becomes a radiating body
- The earth’s surface starts to radiate energy in the form of long waves, we call this terrestrial radiation.
- Atmosphere is transparent to short waves and opaque to long waves.

 Conduction (Transfer of heat by contact)

- Conduction is the process of heat transfer from a warmer object to a cooler object when they come in contact
with each other
- The flow of heat energy continues till the temperature of both the objects become equal or the contact is
broken
- The conduction in the atmosphere occurs at the zone of contact between the atmosphere and the earth’s
surface
- IT IS IMPORTANT IN HEATING THE LOWER LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE
- Note that the shorter the wavelength, the more the energy carried by radiations.

 Convection (Vertical transfer of heat)

- IT is the transfer of heat by the movement of a mass or substance from one place to another, generally vertical
is called convection
- The air at the lower layers of the atmosphere gets heated either by the earth’s radiation or by conduction. The
heating of the air leads to its expansion. Its density decreases and it moves upwards
- The continous ascent of heated air creates a vaccum in the lower layer of the atmosphere. As a consequence,
cooler air comes down to fill the vaccum, leading to convection
- The cyclic movement associated with the convection process in the atmosphere transfer heat from the lower
layer to the upper layer and heats up the atmosphere
- THE CONVECTION TRANSFER OF ENERGY IS CONFINED ONLY TO THE TROPOSPHERE

 Advection (Horizontal transfer of heat)

- The transfer of heat through horizontal movement of air (wind) is called advection
- Winds carry the temperature of one place to another. The temperature of a place will rise if it lies in the path of
winds coming from warmer regions. The temperature will fall if the place likes in the path of the winds blowing
from cold regions
- Horizontal movement of the air is relatively more important than the vertical movement. In the middle
latitutdes, most of diurnal variations in daily weather are caused by advection alone
- LOO IS THE OUTCOME OF ADVECTION PROCESS
-
 Heating and Cooling of Atmosphere
- HOTTER THE OBJECT, SHORTER IS THE WAVE as Temperature and Wavelength are inversely proportional.
- The earth after being heated by insolation transmits the heat to the atmosphere layers near to the earth in long
wave form.
- The air in contact with the land gets heated slowly and the upper layer in contact with the lower layers also gets
heated. This process is called conduction, which takes place when two bodies of unequal temperature are in
contact with one another; there is a flow of heat form one body to another. (Conduction = Heat move from one
part to other by vibration of particle, the particles are stationary, it generally takes place in solids)
- Conduction is important in heating the lower layers of the atmosphere
 - The air in contact with the earth rises vertically on heating in the form of currents and further transmits the
heat of the atmosphere, this process of vertical heating of the atmosphere is known as convection, it is
confined only to the troposphere.
- The transfer of heat through horizontal movement of air is called advection.

 Heat Budget of the Planet Earth

- Consider that the insolation received at the top of the atmosphere is 100 per cent, while passing through the
atmosphere some energy is reflected, scattered and absorbed. Only the remaining part reaches earth surface.
- Roughly 35 units are reflected back to space even before reaching the earth’s surface
- Out of these 27 units are reflected by the cloud and 2 units by cloud, the reflected amount of radiation is
called the albedo of the earth.
- The remaining 65 units are absorbed, 14 units within the atmosphere (water vapor, co2 and other gases) and
51 units by the earth’s surface.
- The earth radiates back these 51 units in the form of terrestrial radiation, of these 17 units are radiated to
space directly and the remaining 34 units are absorbed by the atmosphere.
- The 48 units absorbed by the atmosphere are also radiated back and hence it balances 65 units which it
received from the sun. Hence the earth never warms up or cools down, despite the transfer of heat from the
sun.
- There are some variation in the net heat budget at the Earth’s surface, there is a surplus (Heat gained is more
than Heat loss) of net radiation balance between 40 degrees north and south and the regions near the poles
have a deficit (Heat loss is more than heat gain).
- This imbalance is nullified to some extend by winds and ocean currents, which transfer heat from surplus heat
regions to deficit heat regions
- This process of redistribution and balancing of latitudinal heat is commonly known as Latitudinal Heat Balance.
- According to one estimate, about 75% of heat transfer is carried out by atmospheric circulation and the
remaining 25% by the ocean currents.
- In fact, winds and ocean currents are produced due to imbalance of heat.

 Albedo
- Albedo can be simply defined as a measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected back without being
absorbed
- IT IS A REFLECTION COEFFICIENT WHICH HAS VALUE LESS THAN ONE
- When the solar radiation passes through the atmosphere, some amount of it is reflected, scattered and
absorbed
- The reflected amount of radiation is called as the albedo of the Earth.
- The value of albedo will be different for different surfaces
- Water at small angle has the lowest Albedo followed by Soil
- Water at large angle has the highest alberdo greater than that of Snow and Clouds.
 Vertical and Horizontal distribution of TEMPERATURE

 Factors controlling Temperature Distribution

- Latitude (decreases from equator to pole)
- Altitude
- Distance from Sea
 In summer, the sea water is cooler than the land and in winters, land is much colder than the sea water.
- Air Mass Circulation (Winds example – Mistral or Sirocco)
- Presence of Warm and cold ocean currents
 The warm currents flow along the eastern coast of tropical and sub-tropical regions and western coast of
higher latitudes.
 The cold ocean currents flow along the eastern coast of higher latitude and along the western coast of
tropical and sub-tropical areas.
- Slope, Shelter and aspect
 Slopes on windward side faces more insolation as that of the slopes on leeward sides
 A steep slope experiences a more rapid change in temperature than a gentle one.
- Nature of ground surface
 Snow has high albedo so it reflects more heat, hence less temperature. Sand has less albedo hence deserts
are hot
 Light soils reflect more heat than darker soils, hence soils like sands are very sensitive to temperature
changes, whereas wet soils, like clay retain much moisture and warm up more slowly.

- The rate of decrease of temperature with height is termed as the normal lapse rate, it is 6.5oC for every
1000m

 Inversion of Temperature
- Normally, temperature decreases with increase in elevation, this is normal lapse rate, at times, the situation is
reversed and the normal lapse rate is inverted, it is called inversion of temperature for example: a long winter
night with clear skies and still air is ideal situation for inversion, over polar region, temperature inversion is
normal throughout the year
- Increasing temperature with increasing height is called inversion of temperature
- The inversion takes place in hills and mountains due to air drainage.
 During winters the mountain slopes cool very rapidly due to the quick radiation of heat. The air resting
above them also becomes cold and its density increases. Hence, it moves down the slopes and settles down
the valley. The air pushes the comparatively warmer air of valleys upwards and leads to inversion.

- Some other conditions are

 If the air is dry: Humid air absorbs the terrestrial radiation but dry air is no obstruction to terrestrial
radiation and allows the radiation to escape into space
 Calm atmosphere: The blowing of winds bring warm and cold air into contact. Under conditions of calm
atmosphere the cold air stays put near the ground
 Ice covered surface: In ice covered areas due to high albedo less insolation is received. During night due to
terrestrial radiation most of the heat is lost to atmosphere and the surface is cooled. The air in contact with
it also cooled but the upper layer remains warm
 Isotherms (Lines joining equal temperature)
- The effect of latitude on temperature is more in the northern hemisphere as compared to the southern
hemisphere in the month of January than July because the sun is shifting towards the northern hemisphere and
northern hemisphere has a lot of land comparatively so the difference is more.

- Charecteristics of Isotherms
 Closely drawn isotherms indicate more rapid change in temperature
 The isotherms deviate to the north over the ocean and south towards the continent in January- this has two
reasons – warm and cold ocean currents and difference between the temperature of land and water.
 In the southern hemisphere, the isotherms are more or less parallel to the latitudes due to less landmass
and the variation in temperature is more gradual than ‘in the’ northern hemisphere. The isotherms of
20oC, 10oC and 0oC runs parallel to 35oS, 45oS and 60oS
 In July, the isotherms generally run parallel to the latitudes

 Horizontal Distribution of Temperature in January

- It is summer in southern hemisphere and winter in northern hemisphere
- A high temperature is found over the landmass mainly in three regions – North-west Argentina, East and
Central Africa and Central Australia
- In the northern hemisphere, landmasses are cooler than the oceans, as the air is warmer over the oceans than
over landmasses in the northern hemisphere, the isotherms bend towards THE NORTH (POLES) WHEN THEY
CROSS THE OCEANS AND TO THE SOUTH (EQUATOR) OVER THE CONTINENTS
- In the southern hemisphere, the effect of the oceans is well pronounced (due to few landmasses)
- Isotherms are more or less parallel to the latitudes and the variation in temperature is more gradual than in the
northern hemisphere
 Horizontal Distribution of Temperature in July
- It is summer in Northern hemisphere however the lowest temperature is 0oC in central parts of Greenland.
- DURING SUMMER IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, ISOTHERMS BEND TOWARDS THE EQUATOR (SOUTH)
WHILE CROSSING OCEANS AND TOWARDS THE POLES(NORTH) WHILE CROSSING LANDMASSES
- Isotherms are wide spaced over oceans while they are closely spaced over landmasses.
- In July, the deviation of isotherms is not that much pronounced as in January.

 Temperature ranges

 Diurnal range of temperature

- Daily pattern of temperature change. ie. the difference between the maximum and minimum temperature of
day

 Annual average range of temperature

- It is the monthly range of temperature or the difference between the average temperatures of hottest month
and average temperature of the coldest month.
- The annual range is lower in lower latitudes and higher in high latitudes.
- It is higher over continents and lower over the oceans
- The highest annual range of temperature is more than 60oC over the north-eastern part of Eurasian continent
This is due to continentality.

“Plank’s law states that hotter a body, the more energy it will radiate and shorter the wavelength of that
radiation.”
 Air Pressure

 Atmospheric Pressure
- The weight of a column of air contained in a unit area from the mean sea level to the top of the atmosphere is
called the atmospheric pressure. It is expressed in milibar. At sea level the average atmospheric pressure is
1,013.2 millibar.
- Air pressure decreases with height.
- At lower atmosphere the pressure decreases rapidly with height, the decrease amounts to about 1mb for each
10m increase in elevation.
- The effects of low pressure are more clearly experienced by the people living in the hilly areas as compared to
those who live in plains. In high mountain areas rice takes more time to cook because low pressure reduces the
boiling point of water.

 Forces Affecting the Velocity and Direction of Wind

- The horizontal winds near the earth surface respond to the combined effect of three forces – the pressure
gradient force, the frictional force and the Coriolis force. In addition the gravitational force acts downward.
- Pressure Gradient Force: The difference in atmospheric pressure produces a force. The rate of chance of
pressure with respect to distance is the pressure gradient or Barometer Slope. The pressure gradient is strong
when the isobars are close to each other and is weak when the isobars are apart.
 The force exerted is proportional to the steepness of the gradient, the gentler the pressure gradient slower
is the speed of the wind and vice-versa.
- Frictional Force: It lessens the speed of the wind. It is greater at the surface and its influence generally extends
upto an elevation of 1-3km. It is minimum over the sea surface.
- Coriolis force: It deflects the wind to the right direction in the north hemisphere and to the left in the south
hemisphere.
The deflection is more when the wind velocity is high.
The coriolis forcec is directly proportional to the angle of latitutde, it is maximum at the poles and absent at
the equator.
The coriolis force acts perpendicular to the pressure gradient force.

 Pressure and Wind

- When isobars are straight and when there is no friction, the pressure gradient force is balanced by the Coriolis
force and the resultant wind blows parallel to the isobar, this wind is known as the geostrophic wind.

 General circulation of the atmosphere

- The pattern of the movement of the planetary winds is called the general circulation of the atmosphere also
sets in motion the ocean water circulation which influences the earth’s climate.
- A schematic description of the general circulation is shown in Fig below
 - The air at the equator rises due to high temperature and settles at 30degree N and South, creating a high
pressure belt known as sub-tropical high pressure belt, the air settled at the sub tropical high pressure belt
moves in two direction, one at the pole and another at the equator itself, the one moving towards equator is
called as easterly, as in the northern hemisphere the wind is pushed towards the right side it flows from north
east to south west
- Now we know that the Pole is a high pressure zone, so air from this high pressure zone is going towards the
equator, it is met with the air coming from sub tropics, as both the air are cool, convergence happens and the
air is raised, thus creating a low pressure belt known as sub polar low, here the winds blowing from the sub
tropics to sub polar are deflected in right in the northern hemisphere hence they flow from a south west
direction to the north east direction known as westerlies
- Equatorial low pressure belt and Polar high pressure belt are thermally induced
- The Subtropical High pressure belt and Sub polar low pressure belt are dynamically induced
- These circulation of air in three cells is known as Tri cellular meridunal circulation of air.
- Trade wind’s deflation is because of coriolis force, ferrel’s law or Ballot’s law.
- Westerlies in the southern hemisphere are known as roaring 40s, furious 50s and shrieking sixties

 Different Pressure belts

 Equatorial low pressure belt

- It extends from equator to 10oN and 10oS latitudes.
- It is thermally produced.
- Due to excessive heating, horizontal currents are absent and only vertical currents are experienced in this belt.
- Therefore, this belt is called doldrums (the zone of calm)
- This belt is also known as INTER TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE (ITCZ) because the trade winds flowing from
sub tropical high pressure belts converge here

 Sub-tropical high pressure belt

- They extend roughly between 25o to 35o latitudes in both the hemispheres.
- In the southern hemisphere, this belt is broken by small low-pressure areas in summer over Australia and South
Africa.
- In northern hemisphere, the belt is more discontinuous by the presence of land masses and high pressure
occurs only over the ocean areas as discrete cells, these are temed the Azores and Hawaiian cells in the
Atlantic and Pacific areas respectively
- These belts are also known as Horse Latitudes
 Sub-Polar Low pressure belt
- It extends along 60o latitudes (55o-65o)
- The great temperature contrast between the subtropical and the polar regions gives rise to cyclonic storms in
this belt.
- In southern hemisphere, this low pressure belt is more pronounced due to vast presence of oceans and is also
referred to as sub-antarctic low
- But in the northern hemisphere, there are large land masses along 60o latitudes which are very cold.
 Therefore, the pressures over these landmasses are increased. Thus, the continuity of this belt is broken.

 Polar High Pressure Belt

- It is a thermally induced Belt

 General Circulation of the Atmosphere

- The wind movement in the atmosphere may be classified into three broad categories
- Primary circulation
 It includes Planetary wind systems which are related to the general arrangement of pressure belts on the
earth’s surface.
 The pattern of the movement of the planetary winds is called the general circulation of the atmosphere

- Secondary circulation
 It consists of cyclones and anti-cyclones, MONSOON.

- Tertiary circulation
 It includes all the local winds which are produced by local causes such as topographical features, sea
influences etc.
 Their impact is visible only in a particular area

 Planetary winds
- Trade winds, Westerlies and polar easterlies together form the planetary wind circulation.
- As the air from ITCZ reaches sub tropical high, it flows towards the equator as easterlies or trade winds or
tropical easterlies.
- Because of coriolis force, their direction becomes north-east and south-east in northern and southern
hemisphere respectively.
- The easterlies from either side of the equator converge in the ITCZ. Thus the wind originated at ITCZ come back
in a circular fashion. Such a cell in the tropics is called Hadley Cell.
- In the middle latitudes the circulation is that of sinking cold air that comes from the poles and the rising warm
air that blows from the subtropical high pressure belt. These winds are deflected due to coriolis force and
become westerly in both the hemisphere. They are known as westerlies
- In the southern hemisphere, the westerlies are more strong due to absence of land, hence they are known as
roaring forties, furious fifties and screaming sixties
- Wind moving away from polar high pressure to sub-polar low pressure along the surface of the earth in Polar
cell. Their direction becomes easterlies due to coriolis force. These are called polar easterlies
- Winds coming from the sub-tropical and polar high belts converge to produce cyclonic storms or low pressure
conditions. This zone of convergence is known as polar front
 Land and Sea Breeze

- During the day the land heats up faster and becomes warmer than the sea, therefore, over the land the air rises
giving rise to a low pressure area, whereas the sea is relatively cool and the pressure over sea is relatively high.
- Thus pressure gradient from sea to land is created and the wind blows from the sea to the land as sea breeze.
(It peak during mid-afternoon)
- At night the exact opposite happens and it is known as land breeze (Its peak shortly before the sunrise).
- They are also known as Doctor winds.

 Mountain and Valley Winds

- During the day the slopes of mountains are heated up and air moves upslope and fills the resulting gap, the air
from the valley blows up the valley, this wind is called valley breeze. (Anabolic winds)
- The valley breeze is sometimes accompanied by the formation of cumulus cloud near mountain peaks to cause
orographic rainfall
- During the night the slopes get cooled and the dense air descends into the valley as the mountain wind, this
wind is called katabatic wind or mountain breeze.

 Air Masses
- When air remains over a homogenous area for a sufficiently longer time, it acquires the characteristics of the
area, the air with distinctive characteristics in terms of temperature and humidity is called an airmass.
- It defines a large body of air having little horizontal variation in temperature and moisture.
- The homogenous surface over which air masses form are called as the source regions.
- There are 5 main source regions
 Warm tropical and subtropical oceans
 The subtropical hot deserts
 The relatively cold high latitude oceans
 The very cold snow covered continents in high latitudes
 Permanently ice covered continents in the Arctic and Antarctica
- The Primary type of air masses are i) Maritime tropical (mt); ii) Continental tropical (cT); iii) Maritime polar
(mP); iv) Continental polar (cP); v) Continental artic (cA).
-

 Fronts
- When two different air masses meet(having contrasting character such as density, pressure and wind
direction), the boundary zone between them is called a front, the process of formation of the fronts is known as
frontogenesis.
- The destruction of front is called frontolysis
- There are four types: a) Cold; b) Warm; c) Stationary; d) Occulded.
- When the front remains stationary, it is called a stationary front.
- When the cold air moves towards the warm air mass, its contact zone is called the cold front.
- When the warm air moves towards the cold air mass, its contact zone is called the warm front.
- If the air mass is fully lifted above the land surface, it is called the occulded front. (To occlude means to hide)

 Warm Front
 - When a warmer and lighter air mass moves against an existing cold and dense airmass, it raises over the colder
and denser air mass.
- This type of front is known as warm front.
- As the warm air gradually ascends the gently sloping surface of the wedge of cold air lying ahead, it cools.
- This coolding leads to the cloudy condensation and precipitation.
- UNLIKE THE COLD FRONT, THE CHANGES IN TEMPERATATURE AND WIND DIRECTION ARE GRADUAL.

 Cold Front
- When a cold and dense airmass forces its way under warm and lighter airmass it makes the warm and lighter
airmass to ride over it.
- This type of front is called cold front.
- The COLD FRONT IS MUCH MORE STEEPER THAN THE WARM FRONT.

 Stationary Front
- When a cold front or a warm front stops moving, this happens when two masses of air are pushing against each
other but either is powerful enough to move the other.

 Occuded Front
- Sometimes a cold front follows right behind a warm front. A warm air mass pushes into a colder air mass and
then another cold air mass pushes into the warm air mass. Because cold fronts move faster, the cold front is
likely to overtake the warm front. This is known as Occluded front
- They occur at places of low atmospheric pressure.
 - There are 3 principal frontal zones on the earth’s surface
 Tropical Front
 Temperate Front
 Polar Front

 Cyclones
- The place where a tropical cyclone crosses the coast is called landfall of the cyclone, the cyclone which cross 20
degree N latitude are more destructive.
- The atmospheric disturbances which involve a close circulation about a low pressure centre, anticlockwise in
the northern atmosphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere are called cyclones
- Tornadoes generally occur in middle latitudes, the tornado over the sea is called water spouts.

 Temperate Cyclones
- They are formed in the mid and high latitude, beyond the tropics.
- These latitudes are an area of convergence where contrasting air masses generally meet to form polar fronts
- The stage of development of extra-tropical cyclone are as followed
- Cold air from the pole and warm and moist air from the tropics meet and a cyclone is formed
- The middle portion is called the kink
- The general direction of movement of temperate cyclones is from west to east with frequent trends towards
the southeast to northeast.
- During winter months, the opposing air masses have greater contrasts in their properties, SO THE WINTER
CYCLINES ARE GREATER IN NUMBER AND ARE MORE INTENSE.
- Under normal condition, in the later stages of occlusion the cyclone weakens and ultimately dissipates. But
sometimes, during the late maturing stage of a cyclone, a new low develops on the equatorward margin of
the original cyclone. Thus a secondary cyclone is formed.
- Cyclone families: Extra-tropical cyclone never appears alone, they usually follow in three or four cyclones in a
family.
- The primary or the leading cyclone gets occluded, while the new ones originate on the trailing front and are in
an incipient stage, in the rear of the last member of the cyclone family there is an outbreak of polar air which
builds up an anti-cyclone.
- They are of larger size (1500-3000km) as compared to tropical cyclones
- Affects a much larger area as compared to the tropical cyclone as it can travel over both land and sea.
- Moves from west to east.
 - Cumulus clouds are formed.

 Tropical cyclones
- The tropical cyclone develop from the warm core of extremely low pressure area in the tropical oceanic
regions.
- They are energized from the condensation process in the towering cumulonimbus clouds, surrounding the
centre of the storm.
- On reaching the land , the moisture supply cuts off and the storm dissipates
- The place where a tropical cyclone crosses the coast is called the landfall of the cyclone
- Because there is no coriolis force in the centre, the winds flow perpendicular to the isobars, the low pressure
gets filled instead of getting intensified, hence there are NO TROPICAL CYCLONES IN THE EQUATOR.
- Tropical cyclone has the following features
- Eye – It is the centre of cyclone around which strong spirally winds circulate in a mature tropical cyclone. It is a
region of calm with subsiding air.
- Eye wall - The wind reaches maximum velocity here, Torrential rain occurs here.
- The diameter of the storm over the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean is between 600-1200km
- The system moves slowly about 300-500 km per day
- More destructive then Extra-tropical cyclone as wind velocity is much higher
- Moves from east to west.

 Naming a tropical cyclone

- The Regional Specialized Meterological Centre (RSMC) Delhi is responsible for monitoring and prediction of
tropical cyclone over their respective regions, they are also responsible to name the cyclones.
- Regional Specialized Meterological Centre (RSMC) Delhi is responsible for naming the cyclones in Arabian Sea
and Bay of Bengal.
- The system started from 2004, after the WMO/ ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones as its twenty-seventh session
held in 2000 in Muscat, Sultanante of Oman agreed in principal to assign names to the tropical cyclones in the
Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
- A storm causes so much death and destruction that its name is considered for retirement and hence is not used
repeatedly.

 Thunderstorms and Tornadoes

- They are highly localized weather phenomenon.
- They are short duration, occurring over a small area but are violent.
- A storm accompanied by thunder and lightning is called thunderstorm. It is associated with CUMULONIMBUS
CLOUDS
- They are caused by intense convection on moist hot days, when the clouds extend to heights where sub-zero
temperature prevails, hails are formed and they come down as hailstorm.
- If there is insufficient moisture, a thunderstorm can generate dust storms.
- It causes CONVECTIONAL RAINFALL
 Tornado
- From severe thunderstorms sometimes spiraling wind descends like a trunk of an elephant with great force,
with very low pressure at the centre causing massive destruction on its way. Such a phenomenon is called
tornado.
- Excessive instability and steep lapse rate in the atmosphere are necessary pre-requisite for the development
of a tornado
- Tornadoes generally occur in mid latitudes, the tornado over the sea is called water sprouts.
- The chief features are
 They generally occur in middle latitudes
 They are the most violent of all storms
 They generally move in straight paths
 They are very small in size and of short duration which makes weather prediction difficult.
- They have the most intense low pressure zone
- Mostly found in temperate region – 20 to 60 degree.

 Polar Vortex
- It is a large scale cyclone that encircles geographical poles of earth
- IT develops at upper troposphere or lower stratospheric region
- It originates during winters due to sharp temperature differential created between poles and equator.
- However the Rossby waves can distrupt the circulation around the polar vortex can break the vertex which
would cause Cold waves in the temperate areas
 Humidity
- Water vapor present in the air is known as humidity.
- The actual amount of the water vapor present in the atmosphere is known as the absolute humidity, it is the
weight of water vapor per unit volume of air and is expressed in terms of grams per cubic metre.
- The percentage of moisture persent in the atmosphere as compared to its full capacity at a given temperature is
called as relative humidity.

 35 degree celcius (Remember the number)

 Hot Local Winds

- Local winds that are hot are caused by advection of hot air from a warm source region.
- Loo
 It is HOT AND DRY
 Flows over northern plains of India and Pakistan in May and June
 Their direction is from west to east and they are usually experienced in the afternoons.
 Temperature -45oC to 50oC

- Foehn
 It is WARM and DRY
 It develops on the leeward side of the Alps mountain ranges.
 They flow over the northern slope of Alps to Switzerland

- Chinook
 HOT and DRY local wind.
 Eastern slope of rocky mountains
 It means snow eater

- Sirocco
 HOT and DRY
  originates in Sahara desert
 After crossing the Mediterranean sea, the Sirocco is slightly cooled by the moisture from the sea. Still it is
harmful for vegetation, crops in that region.
 Its local names are Leveche in Spain, Khamsin in Egypt and Gharbi in Aegean Sea

- Hamatta (doctor winds)

 HOT and DRY
 It flows from western sahara over northwest Africa from the northeast.

 Cold Local Winds

- Mistral
 COLD AND DRY
 Originates over Alps and move over France towards the Mediterranean Sea through the Rhone valley

- Bora
 COLD and DRY
 Towards Italy from Alps

- Blizzard
 It is a violent and extremely cold wind laden with dry snow.

- Pampero
 COLD AND DRY
 Pampas grassland in south America

Ozone Depletion at Arctic is called Ozone dent whereas at Antarctica is called Ozone hole.

Name Region

Abrolhos Brazil

Alisio Carribean

Alize Central Africa and the Caribbean

Barguzin wind Russia

Berg South Africa

Bora Blows northeasterly from eastern Europe to
northeastern Italy

Harmattan Central Africa

Ghibli Libya

Khamsin Egypt

Loo India, Pakistan

Pampero Argentina, Uruguay

Föhn or foehn Alps, North Italy

Chinook Rocky Mountains

Roaring Southern Hemisphere

Forties

Southerly Sydney
Buster
 Distribution of Rainfall

Indian Moonsoon

 Introduction
- Indian Monsoons are convection cells on a very large scale.
- They are periodic or secondary winds.
- In northeastern states, winters are mild except in the hills.
- India has hot monsoonal climate which is the prevalent climate in south and southeast Asia.
- Three Fourth of the total annual rainfall is received during the June-September season

 Unity and Diversity in the Monsoon Climate

- Even though there is uniformity in monsoon season, there are regional variations depending on temperature
and rainfall, rhythm of seasons, pattern of winds and the degree of wetness or dryness.
- These regional diversities may be described as sub-type of monsoon climate.
- While CHerrapunji and Mawsynram in the ‘ southern slope Khasi Hills’ of Meghalaya receive rainfall over
1,080 cm in a year, Jaisalmer in Rajasthan rarely gets more than 9cm of rainfall during the same period.
- Turu situated in the Garo hills of Meghalaya may receive an amount of rainfall in a single day which is equal to
10 years of rainfall at Jaisalmer.
- Most parts of the country get rainfall during June-September, but on the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, it rains in
the beginning of the winter season.

 Factors Determining the Climate of India

- There are factors that may be broadly divided into two groups – factors related to location and relief and
factors related to air pressure and winds.

 Factors related to Location and Relief

- Latitude: The tropical zone (path south of Tropic of cancer) being nearer to the equator, experiences high
temperatures throughout the year with small daily and annual range.
Area north of the TOC being away from the equator experiences extreme climate and high daily and annual
range of temperature.
- The Himalayan Mountains: The Himalayas trap the monsoon winds, forcing them to shed their moisture within
the subcontinent.
 - Distribution of Land and Water: The differential heating of land and sea creates different air pressure zones in
different seasons in and around the Indian subcontinent.
- Distance from the Sea: Areas near the coast have an equable climate, whereas at interior of India have
extreme climate, for eg: the people of Mumbai and Konkan coast hardly have any idea of extremes of
temperature and seasonal rhythm of weather. On the other hand, the seasonal contrasts in weather at places in
the interior of the country such as Delhi, Kanpur and Amritsar affect the entire sphere of life.
- Altitude: Temperature decreases with higeght, due to thin air, places in the mountain are cooler than places
on the plain.
- Relief: The windward sides of Western Ghats and Assam receive high rainfall during June-September whereas
the southern plateau remains dry due to its leeward situation along the western Ghats

 Factors related to Air pressure and Wind

To understand this, we need to understand the mechanism of following three factors:
1. Distribution of air pressure and winds on the surface of the earth
2. Upper air circulation caused by factors controlling global weather and the inflow of different air masses and
jet streams
3. Inflow of western cyclones generally known as disturbances during the winter season and tropical
depressions during the south-west monsoon period into India, creating weather conditions favourable to
rainfall.

- Mechanism of weather in the winter season

Surface Pressure and Winds: In winter months, the weather conditions over India are generally influenced by
the distribution of pressure in Central and western Asia, a high pressure zone develops in the region lying to
the north of Himalaya during winter, this high pressure gives rise to the flow to air to low level from the north
towards the Indian subcontinent, south of the mountain range.
This winds reaches India in the form of dry continent mass.
This winds comes in contact with the trade winds over northwestern India, the position of this contact is not
stable.
Occassionally, it may shift its position as far east as the middle Ganga valley with the result that the whole of
the northwestern and northern India up to the middle Ganga valley comes under the influence of dry
northwestern winds.

- Jet Stream and Upper Air Circulation

At higher altitudes (lower trpospher, about three km above the surface of the earth) a pattern of air
circulation is observed.
The variations in the atmospheric pressure closer to the surface of the earth have no role to play in the making
of upper air circulation.
All the western and central Asia remains under the influence of westerly winds along the altitude of 9-13 km
from the west to east, these winds fall roughly parallel to the Tibetan highlands which are known as jet streams
Tibetan highland acts as an barrier in the path of these jet streams.
So the jet streams get divided, one branch flows to the north of the Tibetan highlands while the southern
branch blows in an eastward direction, south of Himalya.
It has a mean position at 25 degree N in February at 200-300 mb level, it is believed that the southern branch of
jet streams exercises an important influence on the winter weather in India.

- Western Cyclonic Disturbance and Tropical Cyclones

 The western cyclonic disturbances which enter the Indian subcontinent from the west and the northwest
during the winter months, originate over the Mediterranean sea and are brought into India by the western
jet stream. An increase in the prevailing night temperature generally indicates an advance in the arrival of these
cyclones disturbances.
Tropical cyclones originate over the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean during the winter season.
They cause heavy rainfall and hit the Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa coast.

 Mechanism of Weather in the Summer Season

- Surface Pressure and Winds

As the summer sets in and the sun shifts northwards, the wind circulation over the subcontinent undergoes a
complete reversal at both, the lower as well as the upper levels.
- The ITCZ shifts northwards, roughly parallel to the HIMALAYAS between 20 oN to 25o N.
- As the ITCZ reaches India, the westerly jet stream withdraws from the Indian region. (HENCE THERE IS A CAUSE
AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO)
- The maritime tropical airmass (mT) from the southern hemisphere after crossing the equator rushes to the low
pressire area in the general southwesterly direction which is known as southwest monsoon.

- Jet Streams and Upper Air Circulation

The eastern jet streams flow over the southern part of the Peninsula in June and have a maximum speed of 90
km per hour, in August it is confined to 15 degree N and in Septermer to 22 degree N, the easterlies normally
do not extend north of 30 degree N in the upper atmosphere

- Easterly Jet Stream and Tropical Cyclones

The easterly jet stream steers the tropical depressions into India, they play a significant role in the distribution
of monsoon rainfall over the Indian subcontinent.
There frequency and intensity determines the rainfall pattern during the southwest monsoon period.

 Understanding Jet Streams

- Jet streams have ridges and troughs
- They are stronger in winter and flows west to east.
- They are GEOSTROPHIC WINDS (BLOW PARALLEL TO ISOBARS)
- POLAR JETSTREAM ARE THE STRONGEST JET STREAM BECAUSE TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE IS MORE
- SUB TROPICAL JET STREAM flows between 25oN to 35oN

- Western Jet Streams

 During winter, anti-cyclonic conditions are present in the northern side which causes the winds to be
sucked up and with the flow of the jet streams it reaches India
 Here it encounters Himalaya which acts as a barrier causing the winds to drop off its moisture which causes
western disturbances in India.
 - Eastern Jet Streams
 During Summer, the ITCZ is shifted in the northern direction, so the jet streams are also shifted northwards
towards the Tibetan plateau (initially they flow south of Himalayas)
 As there is intense heating of the Tibetan plateau, air ascends upwards which causes cyclonic conditions.
 This high pressure wind moves through the eastern coast till they reach Madagascar.

 The Nature of Indian Monsoon

- Some of the important aspects of monsoon are

i) the onset of the monsoon
ii) the Rain-bearing systems (eg. tropical cyclones) and relationship between their frequency and
distribution of monsoon rainfall
iii) Break in the monsoon
- The southwest monsoon may be seen as a continuation of southeast trade winds deflected towards the
Indian subcontinent after crossing the Equator.
- This winds crosses the equator between 40 E and 60 E latitudes
- The shift in the position of the ITCZ is also related to the phenomenon of the withdrawal of the western jet
streams from its position over the northern Indian plain, south of the Himalayas.
- The easterly jet stream sets in along 15 N latitude only after the western jet stream has withdrawn itself from
the region. The easterly jet stream is held responsible for the burst of the monsoon in India
- Entry of Monsoon into India
 The Southwest monsoon sets in over the Kerela coast by 1st June and moves swiftly to reach Mumbai and
Kolkata between 10th and 13th June, by mid-july, southwest monsoon engulfs the entire subcontinent.
 Andaman and Nicobar – 20th June
 Kerela – Chennai : 1st June
  North-East: 1st June
 Karnataka, Telangana, AP: 5th June
 Kolkata Sikkim – 5th June
 Mumbai, Chattisgarh, Bhubaneshwar, Patna : 10th June
 Middle Part (Bhopal, Gujrat, Up): 15th June
 Northwestern part (Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal): 1st July
 Rest North: 15th July
- The advance of the monsoon is much faster in the Bay of Bengal than the Arabian Sea
- Arabian Sea branch is much more powerful than the Bay of Bengal due to following reasons
 The Arabian sea is larger than the Bay of Bengal
 The entire Arabian Sea current advances towards India, whereas only a part of the Bay of Bengal current
enters India, the remainder proceeding to Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia.
 Rain-bearing Systems and Rainfall Distributions
- There are two rain bearing systems in India, first originate in the Bay of Bengal causing rainfall over the plains of
north India, second is the Arabian Sea current of the south west monsoon which brings rain to the west coast
of India.
- Much of the rainfall along the western ghat is orographic as it is obstructed and forced to rise along th e Ghats.
- The intensity of the rainfall over the west coast of India, is however, related to two factors:
i) The offshore meteorological conditions
ii) The position of the equatorial jet stream along the eastern coast of Africa.
- The frequency of tropical depressions originating from Bay of Bengal varies each year to year.
- Their paths over India are mainly determined by the position of the ITCZ which is called monsoon trough.
- Hence the rain which comes in spells, displaying a declining trend from west to the east over the western coast
and from the southeast towards the northwest over the north Indian plain and the northern part of the
Peninsula.

 Break in the Monsoon

- During the south-west monsoon period, if rain fails to occur for one or more week, it is known as monsoon
break. These breaks in the different regions are due to different reasons:
 i) In northern India, rains are likely to fail if the rain-bearing storms are not very frequent along the
monsoon trough or the ITCZ (also known as Monsoon Front)
ii) Over the west coast the dry spells are associated with days when winds blow parallel to the coast.

 The RHYTM of Seasons

- According to scientists, there are four seasons in India
the cold weather season
the hold weather season
the southwest monsoon season
the retreating monsoon season

 The Cold Weather Season

- Temperature
 The cold season usually sets in by mid November in northern India.
 December and January are the coldest months in the northern plain, the mean temperature remains below
21 degree C over most part of northern India.
 Temperature in Punjab and Rajasthan can even go below 0 due to following reasons
i) They are far from sea, so experience continental climate
ii) The snowfall in the nearby Himalayan ranges creates a cold wave situation
iii) Around February, the cold winds coming from the Caspian sea and Turkmenistan bring cold wave with
frost and fog over the northwestern parts of India
 Peninsular region of India does not have any well-defined cold weather season and temperature on the
coast mostly remains stable
- Pressure and Winds
 By the end of December, the sun shines vertically over the Tropic of Capricon, the weather in this season is
charecterised by feeble high pressure conditions over the northern plain.
 In south India the air pressure is slightly lower.
 As a result wind blows from northwestern high pressure zone to the low air pressure zone over the Indian
ocean in the south.
 By large, the topography influences the wind direction: they are westerly or northwesterly in the Ganga
valley, they become northerly in the Ganga-brahmaputra delta, they are northeasterly over the Bay of
Bengal.
 - Rainfall
 Winter monsoons do not cause rainfall as they move from land to sea during winter.
 So most of the parts of India do not experience rainfall in the winter season, however there are some
exceptions
i) Due to western disturbances, part of Punjab, Haryana, Dehli and western UP receive some rainfall,
it is highly beneficial for the rabi crops. The precipitation is in the form of snow in the lower
Himalayas.
ii) Central parts of India and northern parts of southern peninsula also gets rainfall occasionally
iii) Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in the northeastern parts of India have rains between 25mm and
50mm during these winter months.
iv) During October and November, northeast monsoon while crossing over the Bay of Bengal pics up
moisture and cuaises torrential rainfall over the Tamil Nadu coast, southern Andhra Pradesh,
southeast Karnataka and southeast Kerela.

 The Hot Weather Season

- Temperature
 In March, the highest day temperature of about 38oC occurs in the Deccan Plateau.
 April, May and June are the months of summer in north India.
  In may the heat belt moves further north, and north-western part of Indi the temperature is around 48oC.
 The hot weather season in south India is mild because of peninsular situation.
 The mean daily minimum temperature during the summer months is above 26oC
 The temperature in the western Ghats remains below 25o C.

- Pressure and Winds

 During summer, the air pressure drops in the northern part of the country.
 The monsoon trough extends over the Thar desert in the north-west to Patna and Chotanagpur plateau in
the east-southeast.
 In the northwest, the dry and hot winds known as LOO blows in the afternoon.
 Dust storms in the evening are common during May in Punjab, Haryana, Eastern Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh.

 The Southwest Monsoon Season

- The low pressure belt due to summer becomes powerful enough to attract the trade winds of Southern
Hemisphere coming from the Indian Ocean.
- These winds enter through Bay of Bengal and Arabiac sea and brings with them moisture, after crossing the
equator they follow a southwesterly direction, that is why they are known as southwest monsoons.
- The sudden onset of the moisture-laden winds associated with violent thunder and lightening is often termed
as the break or burst of the monsoons.

The monsoon approaches the landmass in two branches:

i) the Arabian Sea Branch

ii) the Bay of Bengal Branch

 Monsoon Winds of the Arabian Sea

- The monsoon winds originating over the Arabian sea further split into three branches:
i) One branch is obstructed by the western ghats, They climb the slop of the western ghats from about
900-1200m, soon they become cool and as a result the windward side of the Sahyadris and Western
Coastal Plain receive very heavy rainfall ranging between 250 cm and 400 cm. For example rainfall is
very high in Manglaru, followed by Pune, Kozhikode and Bengalure.
ii) Another branch of the Arabian sea monsoon strikes the coast north of Mumbai. Moving along the
Narmada and Tapi river valleys, these winds cause rainfall in extensive areas of central India, the
Chotanagpur plateau gets 15 cm rainfall from this part of the branch, thereafter they enter the Ganga
plains and mingle with the Bay of Bengal branch
iii) A third branch of this monsoon winds strikes the Saurashtra Peninsula and the Kachchh, it then passes
over west Rajasthan and along the Aravalis causing a scanty rainfall. IN Punjab and Haryana it joins
the Bay of Bengal branch, this two branches causes rains in the western Himalayas.

 Monsoon Winds of the Bay of Bengal

- The Bay of Bengal branch strikes the coast of Myanmar and part of southeast Bangladesh, but the Arakan Hills
along the coast of Myanmar deflect a big protion of this branch towards the Indian subcontinent.
- The monsoon therefore enters West Bengal and Bangladesh from south or southeast.
- From here the branch splits into two under the influence of the Himalayas.
- Its once branch moves westward along the Ganga plains reaching as far as the Punjab plains
- The other branch moves up the Brahmaputra valley in the north and the northeast, causing widespread rains,
its sub-branch strikes the Garo and Khasi hills of Meghalaya, Mawsynram located on the crest of Khasi hills,
receives the highest average annual rainfall in the world.

Here it is important to know why the Tamil Nadu coast remains dry during this season, there are two factors:

i) The Tamil Nadu coast is situated parallel to the Bay of Bengal branch of southwest monsoon.
ii) It lies in the rainshadow area of the Arabian sea branch of the south-west monsoon.

 Charecteristics of Monsoonal Rainfall

- Rainfall received from the southwest monsoons is seasonal in character, which occurs between June and
September.
- Monsoonal rainfall is largely governed by relief or topography, for example the windward side of the western
ghat receives 250 cm of rainfall.
- Declining trend with increasing distance from the sea.
- The monsoon rains occur in wet spells of few days duration at a time, the wet spells are interspersed with
rainless intervals known as breaks, these breaks in rainfall are related to the cyclonic depressions mianly
formed at the head of the Bay of Bengal.
- The summer rainfall is heavy causing run off and soil erosion.
- It plays a pivotal role in the agrarian economy as over three-fourths of the total rain in the country is received
during the south-west monsoon season.
- Its spatial distribution is also uneven which ranges from 12 cm to more than 250 cm
- The rain sometimes delay and sometimes end early.
 Season of Retreating Monsoon
- The months of October and November are known as retreating monsoons, by the end of September, the
southwest monsoon becomes weak.
 - The monsoon retreats from the western Rajasthan by the first week of September, it withdraws from
Rajasthan, Gujrat, Western Ganga plain and the Central Highlands by the end of the month.
- by the beginning of October, the low pressure covers northern parts of the Bay of Bengal and by early
November it moves over Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
- By the middle of December, the centre of low pressure is completely removed from the Peninsula.
- The retreating southwest monsoon season is marked by clear skies and rise in temperature, the land is still
mosit, owing to the conditions of high temperature and humidity, the weather becomes rather oppressive,
which is commonly known as October Heat, in the second half October, the mercury begins to fall rapidly
particularly in the northern India.
- The weather is dry in the northern India but is associated with rain in the eastern part of the Peninsula, here,
October and November are the rainiest months of the year.
- This rain causes cyclonic depression in the eastern coast, the thickly populated deltas of the Godhavari,
Krishna and Kaveri are their preferred targets.
- A bulk of the rainfall of the Coromondal coast is derived from these depressions.

 Traditional Indian Seasons

- In the Indian tradition, a year is divided into six two-monthly seasons
 Distribution of Rainfall
- The average annual rainfall in India is about 125 cm.
- Areas of High Rainfall: The highest rainfall occurs along the west coast, on the Western Ghats as well as in the
sub-Himalayan hills, here the rainfall exceeds 200 cm, in some parts of Khasi and Jaintia hills, the rainfall
exceeds 1000 cm, in the Brahmaputra valley and the adjoining hills, the rainfall is less than 200 cm
- Areas of Medium Rainfall: Rainfall between 100-200 cm is received in the southern parts of Gujrat, east Tamil
Nadu, northeastern Peninsula covering Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, eastern MP, northern Ganga plain and the
sub-Himalayas and the Cachar Valley and Manipur.
- Areas of Low Rainfall: Western UP, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, JnK, eastern Rajasthan, Gujrat and Deccan Plateau
receives rainfall between 50-100 cm
- Areas of Inadequate Rainfall: Parts of Peninsula especially Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra,
Ladakh and most of western Rajasthan receive rainfall below 50 cm.
- Snowfall is restricted the Himalayan region.
 Variability of Rainfall
- A characteristic feature of rainfall in India is its variability, it is calculated using the formula
C.V = (Std Deviation *100) / mean
- The rainfall in some places deviates from 20-25 %, a variability of less than 25% exist in the western coasts,
western ghats and northeastern peninsula, eastern plains of the Ganga, north-eastern India, Uttarakhand and
Himachal Pradesh and south-western part of Jammu and Kashmir, these areas have an annual rainfall of over
100 cm.
A variability of over 50 % exists in the western part of Rajasthan, northern part of Jammu and Kashmir and
interior parts of the Deccan Plateau, these areas have rainfall less than 50 cm.
Rest of India have a variability of 25-50 per cent and these areas receive an annual rainfall between 50-100 cm
 Climatic Regions of India (Koeppen scheme)
- He identified five major climatic types namely:
i) Tropical climates, where mean monthly temperature throughout the year is over 18oC
ii) Dry climates, where precipitation is very low in comparision to temperature and hence dry.: if dryness
is less it is called as semi arid, if it is more it is called as arid.
iii) Warm temperate climate where mean temperature of the coldest month is between 18oC and minus
3oC
iv) Cool temperate climate where mean temperature of the warmest month is over 10oC and mean
temperature of the coldest month is under minus 3oC
v) Ice climates, where mean temperature of the warmest month is under 10oC.
 Monsoons and the Economic Life of India
- About 64 % people of India depends on agriculture for their livelihood.
- Except Himalaya, all the parts of the country have temperature above the threashold level to grow the crops or
plants throughtout the year
- Regional variations in monsoon climate helps grow various types of crops
- Variability of rainfall brings droughts or floods every year in some part of the country
- Sudden monsoon burst creates problem of soil erosion.
- Winter rainfall by temperate cyclones in north India is highly beneficial for rabi crops.

According to estimation, on an average, the sea level will rise 48 cm by the end of the twenty first century.
By 2100, global temperature will increase by about 2oC
 The Oceans

 Exploring the Oceans

- The ocean comprising more than 70% or 140 million square miles of the earth’s surface have tremendous
potential waiting to be developed.
- Formal oceanographic investigation began only with the British expedition of the Challenger (1873-1876), the
first successful world-wide deep-sea expedition

- Oceanography is the science of the oceans

- The most famous international oceanographic research centre is the International Council for the Exploration
of the Sea with its headquarters in Copenhagen

 Introduction
- The horizontal and vertical motions are common in ocean water bodies.
- The Horizontal motion refers to the ocean currents and waves.
 Water moves from one place to another through ocean currents while the water in the waves does not
move.
- The vertical motion refers to tides.

 Waves
- Waves are actually the energy, not the water as such, which moves across the ocean surface.
- Wind is the factor that provides energy to the waves.
- As a wave approaches a beach it slows down because of the friction between dynamic water and the sea floor.
- WHEN THE DEPTH OF WATER IS LESS THAN HALF THE WAVELENGTH OF THE WAVE, THE WAVE BREAKS.
- A wave’s size and shape reveal its origin.
- Steep waves are fairly young ones and are probably formed by local wind.
- Slow and steady waves originate from far away places, possibly from another hemisphere
- The maximum wave height is determined by the strength of the wind.
- The actual motion of the water beneath the waves is circular
 Tides
- The periodical rise and fall of the sea level, once or twice a day, mainly due to the attraction of the sun and the
moon is called a tide.
- Movement of water caused by meterological effect is called as surges. They are not regular as tides
- The moon’s gravitational pull to a great extent and to a lesser extent the sun’s gravitational pull are the major
causes for the occurrences of tides.
- Another factor is the centrifugal force, which is the force that acts to counter balance the gravity.
- Together the gravitation and centrifugal forces are responsible for creating the two major tidal bulges on the
earth.
- On the side of the earth facing the moon, a tidal buldge occurs while on the opposite side though the
gravitational attraction of the moon is less as it is farther away, the centrifugal force causes tidal bulge.
- The TIDE GENERATING FORCES is the difference between these two forces i.e the gravitational attraction of
the moon and the centrifugal force.
- The tidal bulges on wide continental shelves have greater height.
- When tidal bulges hit the mid-oceanic islands they become low.
- The shape of bays and estuaries along a coastline can also magnify the intensity of tides.
- Funnel-shaped bay greatly change tidal magnitudes
- When the tide is channeled between islands or into bays and estuaries they are called as tidal currents.
- HIGHEST TIDE IN THE WORLD IS IN THE BAY OF FUNDY IN CANADA
 The tidal bulge is 15-16m.
 Types of tides

 Tides based on Frequency

- Semi-diurnal tide: The most common tidal pattern, featuring two high tides and two low tides each day. The
successive high or low tides are approximately of the same height.

- Diurnal tide: There is only one high tide and one low tide during each day. The successive high and low tides
are approximately of same height

- Mixed tide: Tides having variations in height are known as mixed tides. These tides generally occur along the
west coast of North America and on many islands of the Pacific Ocean.

 Tides based on the Sun, Moon and the Earth

- Spring Tides: The position of both the sun and the moon in relation to the earth has direct bearing on tide
height. When the sun, the moon and the earth are in a straight line, the height of the tide will be higher.
These are called as spring tides and they occur twice a month, on full moon day and new moon day.

- Neap tides: Normally, there is a seven day interval between the spring tides and neap tides at this time, the sun
and moon are at right angles to each other and the forces of the sun and moon tend to counteract one
another.
- Once in a month, when the moon’s orbit is closest to the earth, unusually high and low tides occur. During this
time the tidal range is greater than normal.
- Two weeks later, when the moon is farthest from earth, rhe moon’s gravitational force is limited and the tidal
ranges are less than their average heights.
- During perihelion, tidal ranges are also much greater, with unusually high and unusually low tides. When the
earth is farthest from the sun around 4th July each year, tidal ranges are much less than average.
- THE TIME BETWEEN THE HIGH TIDE AND LOW TIDE, WHEN WATER IS FALLING IS CALLED THE ‘EBB’.
- THE TIME BETWEEN THE LOW TIDE AND HIGH TIDE WHEN THE TIDE IS RISING IS CALLED THE FLOW OR
FLOOD.

 The Relief of the Ocean

- The ocean basin are in many ways similar to the land surface.
 The continental shelf
- This is the seaward extension of the continent from the shoreline to the continental edge marked
approximately 100 fathom (0.2 km) isobaths (isobaths are contour marking depths below sea level)
- It is thus a shallow platform whose width varies greatly, from a few miles in the North Pacific off the continent
of North America to over 100 miles off north-west Europe
- However the average width is 80km
- In some places, where the coast are extremely mountainous, such as the Rocky mountain and Andean coasts
or coasts of Chile, west coast of Sumatra, the continental shelf may be entirely absent
- Off broad low land coasts like those of Arctic Siberia, a maximum width of 750 miles or 1500km has been
recorded.
- The angle of the slope is also variable, and is normally least where the continental shelf is widest.
 The average gradient of 1 degree or even less is seen in continental shelf.
- Some smaller continental shelves could have been caused by wave erosion where the land is being eroded by
the sea.
- Conversely such shelves might have been formed by the deposition of land-derived or river borne materials on
the off-shore terrace.
- The continental shelves are of great geographical significance for the following reasons
 Their shallowness enables sunlight to penetrate through the water, which encourages the growth of minute
plants, they are thus rich in plankton on which millions of surface and bottom-feeding fishes thrive
 The continental shelves are thus the richest fishing grounds in the world, e.g the Grand Banks off
Newfoundland, the North Sea and the Sunda shelf
 Their limited depth and gentle slope keep out cold under-currents and increase the height of tides, this
sometimes hinders shipping and other marine activities since ships can only enter and leave the port on the
tide
 The continental slope
- At the edge of the continental shelf, there is an abrupt change of gradient
- The gradient of the slope region varies between 2 to 5 degree.
- The depth of the slope varies between 200 and 3000 m
- THEY INDICATE THE END OF THE CONTINENTS
- CANYONS AND TRENCHES are observed in this region.

 The deep-sea plain

- This is the undulating plain lying two to three miles below sea level, and covering two-thirds of the ocean floor,
generally termed the abyssal plain.
- The depths vary between 3,000 and 6,000m.
- It has extensive submarine plateau, ridges, trenches, basins and oceanic islands that rise above sea level in the
midst of oceans eg. the Azores, Ascension Island

 The Ocean Deeps

- These are long narrow trenches that plunge as great ocean deeps to a depth of 5,000 fathoms or 30,000 feets
or 10km
- Contrary to our expectations, most of the deepest trenches are not located in the midst of oceans, They are
often found close to the continents particularly in the Pacific Ocean where several deep trenches have been
sounded.
- The greatest known ocean deep is the Mariana Trench near Guam island which is more than 36,000 feet deep
- As many as57 deeps have been explored so far; of which 32 are in the Pacific Ocean, 19 in the Atlantic Ocean
and 6 in the Indian Ocean.

 Minor Relief Features

 Mid-Oceanic Ridges
- It is composed of two chains of mountains separated by a large depression.
- The mountain ranges can have peaks as high as 2,500 m and some even reach above the ocean’s surface.
- Iceland, a part of the mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example.

 Seamount
- It s a mountain with pointed summits, rising from the seafloor that does not reach the surface of the ocean.
- Seamounts are volcanic in origin. These can be 3000-4500 m tall
- The Emperor seamount, an extension of the Hawaiian Islands in the pacific ocean is a good example.
 Submarine Canyons
- These are deep valleys, some comparable to the Grant Canyon of the Colarado river
- Hudson Canyon is the best known submarine canyon
 Guyots
- It is a flat topped seamount.
- It is estimated that more than 10,000 seamounts and guyots exist in the Pacific Ocean alone

 Atoll
- These are low island found in the TROPICAL OCEANS consisting of coral reefs surrounding a central depression.
It may be a part of the sea, or sometimes form enclosing a body of fresh, brackish or highly saline water.

 The Oceanic Deposits of the Ocean Floor

- Materials eroded from the earth which are not deposited by rivers or at the coast are eventually dropped on
the ocean floor. The dominant process is slow sedimentation where the eroded particles very slowly filter
through the ocean water and settle upon one another in layer
- Generally they are classified as
- The muds: These are terigenous deposits because they are derived from land and are mainly deposited on the
continental shelves. The muds are referred to as blue, green or red muds their colouring depends upon their
chemical content
- The Oozes: These are pelagic deposits because they are derived from the oceans. they are made of the shelly
and skeletal remains of marine micro-organisms with calcareous or siliceous parts.
- Oozes have a very fine, flour-like texture and either occur as accumulated deposits or float abount in
suspension
- The clays: These occur mainly as red clays in the deeper parts of the ocean basins and are particularly abundant
in the Pacific Ocean. Red clay is believed to be an accumulation of volcanic dust blown out from volcanoes
during volcanic eruption

 Salinity of the Ocean

- All the sea water contains large amount of dissolved mineral matter of which sodium chloride or common salt
alone constitutes more than 77%, the other important compounds include magnesium, calcium and potassium
while the rest are distinguishable only in traces of very minute quantities.
- Due to the free movement of ocean water, the proportions of different salts, remain remarkably constant in all
oceans and even to greath depths
- But the degree of concentration of the salt solution in oceans does vary appreciably in different areas.
- This is expressed as salinity ie the total content of dissolved salts in sea water.
- It is calculated as the amount of salt (in gm) dissolved in 1,000 gm(1kg) of seawater. It is expressed as parts per
thousand.
- Salinity of 24.7 PPT has been considered as the upper limit to demarcate Brackish water.
- Isohalines – lines joining places having equal degree of salinity
- The avg salinity of oceans is 35 PPT of water.
- In the Baltic sea, where there is much dilution by fresh water and melting ice, the salinity is much lower, only
about 7 PPT
- In the Red Sea where there is much surface evaporation and fewer rivers to bring the fresh water, the average
salinity is 41 PPT
- In enclosed seas, which are areas of inland drainage, such as Caspian sea, the salinity is very high 180 PPT,
Great Salt Lake (US) has a salinity of 220 PPT and in the Dead Sea of Palestine, a salinity of 250 PPT
- THE HIGHEST SALINITY IS PERHAPS THAT OF LAKE VAN IN ASIA MINOR WITH 330 PPM
 The variation of salinity in the various seas and oceans is affected by the following factor
- The rate of evaporation: The water fringing the High Pressure Belts of the Trade Wind Deserts, between 20o
and 30o N and S, have high salinity because of the high rate of evaporation caused by high temperature and
low humidity.
- The temperate oceans have lower salinity due to the lower temperature and a lower rate of evaporation

- The amount of fresh water added by precipitation, stream and icebergs

 Salinity is lower than the avg 35PPM in equatorial water because of the heavy rainfall and high relative
humidity.
 Oceans in which huge rivers drain have lower salinity.
 The Baltic, Arctic and Antarctic water have a salinity of less than 32 PPM because of the colder climate with
little evaporation and because much fresh water is added from the melting of icebergs.

- Horizontal Distribution of Salinity

 The salinity for noral open ocean ranges between 33-37 PPT.
 In Hot and dry regions, where evaporation is high, the salinity sometimes reaches to 70 PPT
 Salinity decreases from 35 PPT -31 PPT on the western parts of the northern hemisphere because of the
influx of melted water from the Artic region.
 In the same way after 15o to 20o south, it decreases to 33 PPT.
 The average salinity of the Atlantic Ocean is around 36 PPT
 The highest salinity is recorded between 15o and 20o latitudes. Maximum salinity is observed between
20oN and 30oN and 20oW-60oW.
 It gradually decreases towards the north.
 The North Sea, in spite of its location in higher latitude, records higher salinity due to more saline water
brought by the North Atlantic Drift.
 Black sea has low salinity due to enormous fresh water influx by rivers.
 The average salinity of the Indian Ocean is 35 PPT.
 LOW SALINITY TREND IS OBSEREVED IN THE BAY OF BENGAL DUE TO INFLUX OF RIVER WATER. ON THE
CONTARY, THE ARABIAN SEA SHOWS HIGHER SALINIRY DUE TO HIGH EVAPORATION AND LOW INFLUX
OF FRESH WATER.
- Vertical distribution of Salinity
 Salinity generally increases with depth and there is a distinct zone called the HALOCLINE, where salinity
increases sharply.

 The Temperature of Ocean Water

- Since water warms up and cools down much more slowly than the land, the annual range of temperature in
any part of the ocean is very much smaller
- The factors which affect the distribution of temperature of ocean water are
 Latitude
 Unequal distribution of land and water: The oceans in the northern hemisphere receive more heat due to
their contact with larger extend of land than the oceans in the southern hemisphere
 Prevailing wind
 Ocean currents
- Generally, the mean annual temperature of the surface ocean water decreases from about 70oF – in equatorial
areas to 55oE at latitudes 45oN and S and drops almost to freezing point at the poles
- The reduction of temperature with latitude is however never constant because of the interference by warm
and cold currents, wind and air masses
- Water flowing out from the Arctic and Antarctic as cold currents, such as the Labrador Current off north-east
Canada, tends to reduce the surface water temperature.
 Ports of eastern Canada even at 45oN are thus icebound for almost half the year
- In the same way, coasts warmed by the warm currents, such as the North Atlantic Drift have their surface
temperature raised.
- The Nowegian coast, even at latitudes 60o to 70N is ice-free throughout the year
- The highest water temperatures are found in enclosed seas in the tropics eg the Red Sea which records a
temperature of 85oF to 100oF.
- The Arctic and Antarctic water are so cold that their surface is permanently frozen as pack-ice down to a depth
of several feet.

- The temperature-depth profile for the ocean water shows how the temperature decreases with increasing
depth.
 - The profile shows a boundary region between the surface water of the ocean and the deeper layers. The
boundary usually beings around 100-400m below the sea surface and extends several hundred of meter
downward.
- THIS BOUNDARY REGION, FROM WHERE THERE IS A RAPID DECREASE OF TEMPERATURE IS CALLED THE
THERMOCLINE. About 90% of the total volume of water is found below the thermocline in the deep ocean.
- The temperature structure of oceans over middle and low latitudes can be described as a three layer system
from surface to the bottom
 The first layer represents the top layer of warm oceanic water and it is about 500m thick with temperature
ranging between 20-25oC. This layer within the tropical region, is present throughout the year but in mid
latitudes it develops only during summer.
 The second layer called the THERMOCLINE layer lies below the first layer is characterized by rapid decrease
in temperature with increasing depth. The thermocline is 500-1,000m thick
 The third layer is very cold and extends upto the deep ocean floor.
- In the Artic and Antartic circles, the surface water temperature is close to 0 degree C and so the temperature
change with the depth is very slight. Here only one layer of cold water exists, which extends from surface to
deep ocean floor.
- The average temperature of surface water of the oceans is about 27oC and it gradually decreases from equator
towards the pole.
- THE RATE OF DECREASE OF TEMPERATURE WITH INCREASING LATITUDE IS GENERALLY 0.5o C PER LATITUTE.
- The average temperature is around 22oC at 20o latitudes. 14oC at 40o latitude and 0o C near the poles.
- The oceans in the northern hemisphere record relatively higher temperature than in the southern hemisphere.
- The highest temperature is not recorded at the equator but slightly towards north of it.
- The average annual temperatures for the northern and southern hemisphere are around 19oC and 16oC
respectively.
- Note that the temperature falls very rapidly for the depth of first 200m and thereafter the rate of decrease of
temperature is slowed down.

 The Movements of Ocean Currents

- Ocean currents are large masses of surface water that circulate in regular patterns around the oceans. Those
that flow from equatorial regions polewards have a higher surface temperature and are warm currents
- Thpse that flow from polar region equatorwards have a lower surface temperature and are cold currents.
- Ocean currents are influenced by two types of forces namely: Primary forces that initiate the movement of
water and Secondary forces that influence the currents to flow.
- The primary forces are i) Heating by solar energy (Temperature), ii)Wind (Planetary winds), iii) Gravity, iv)
coriolis force.
- Currents are also referred to by their drift i.e the speed of the current which is measured in knots.

- The reason for following the patterns are

- Planetary winds:
 Between the equator and the tropics blow the Trade Winds which move equatorial water polewards and
westwards and warm the eastern coasts of continent
 For example the North-East Trade Winds move the North Equatorial current and its derivatives, the Florida
current and the Guld Stream Drift to warm the southern and eastern coasts of USA
 Similarly the South eastern winds drive the south equotrial current which warms the eastern coast of
Brazil as the warm Brazilian Current
  In the temperate latitudes blow the Westerlies, though they are less reliable than the trade winds, they
result in a north easterly flow of water in the northern hemisphere, so the warm Gulf Stream is driven to
the western coast of Europe as the North Atlantic Drift.
 In a similar manner, the Westerlies of the souther hemisphere, drive the West wind drift equatorwards as
the Peruvian Current off South America and the Benguala current off the South Africa.
 The Planetary winds are probably the dominant influence on the flow of ocean currents.

- Temperature
 There is much difference in the temperature of ocean waters in the equator and at the poles.
 As warm water is lighter and rises and cold water is denser and sinks , warm water moves slowly along the
surface polewards, while the heavier cold water of the polar regions creep slowly along the bottom of the
sea equatorwards

- Salinity
 Water of high salinity are denser than water of low salinity.
 Hence water of low salinity flow on the surface of waters of high salinity while water of high salinity flows
at the bottom towards water at low salinity.
 For example, in the Mediterranean region, there is great difference in salinity between the waters of the
open Atlantic and those of the partially enclosed Mediterranean Sea
 The less saline water of the Atlantic flows on the surface into the Mediterranean and this is compensated
for by an outflow of denser bottom water from the Mediterrranean

- The earth’s rotation

 The earth’s rotation deflects freely moving objects including ocean currents, to the right in the northern
hemisphere, that is a cloclwise direction and in the souther hemisphere it is an anti-clockwise direction
 These large accumulations of water and the flow around them are called Gyres.

- Land
 A land mass always obstructs and diverts a current.
 For instance, the tip of souther Chile diverts part of the West Wind Drift northwards as the Peruvian
Current.
 Similarly the shoulder of Brazil at Cape Sao Roque divides the west flowing equatorial currents in to the
Cayenne Current which flows north-westwards and the Brazilian Current which flows south-westwards

 Types of Ocean Currents

- The ocean currents may be classified based on their depth as surface currents and deep water currents
- Surface current constitute about 10% of all the water in the ocean, these waters are the upper 400m of the
ocean
- Deep water currents make up the other 90% of the ocean water.
- These water move around the ocean basins due to variation in the density and gravity
- Deep water sink into the deep ocean basins at high latitudes where the temperature are cold enough to cause
the density to increase
- Ocean currents can also be classified based on temperature as cold currents and warm currents.
- Cold currents are usually found on the west coast of the continents in the low and middle latitudes and on the
east coast in the higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Warm currents are observed on the east coast of continents in the lower and middle latitudes and west coast
of continents in high latitudes.
 The Circulation of the Atlantic Ocean
- We sall begin with the North and South Equatorial Current at the equator.
- The steady Trade Winds constantly drift two streams of water from east to west
- At the shoulder of north-east Brazil, the protruding land mass splits the Southern Equatorial Current into the
Cayenne Current which flows along the Guiana coast and the Brazilian Current which flows southwards along
the east coast of Brazil
- In the North Atlantic Ocean, the Cayenne Current is joined and reinforced by the North Equatorial Current and
heads north-westwards as large mass of equatorial water into the Caribbean Sea.
- Part of the ocean current enters the Gulf of Mexico and emerges from the Florida Strait between Florida and
Cuba as the Florida Current
- The rest of the equatorial water flows northwards east of the Antilles to join the Gulf Stream of the south-
eastern USA.
- The current hugs the coast of America as far as Cope Hatteras where it is deflected eastwards under the
combined influence of the westerlies and rotation of the earth
- It reaches Europe as the North Atlantic Drift.
- From the North Atlantic it fans out in three directions, eastwards to Britain, northwards to the Arctic and
southwards along the Iberian coast as the cool Canaries Current
- The Canaries Current flowing southward eventually merges with the North Equatorial Current, completing the
clockwise circuit in the North Atlantic Ocean
- WITHIN THIS RINGS OF CURRENT AN AREA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC HAS NO PERCEPTIBLE CURRENT.
A LARGE AMONT OF FLOATING SEA WEED GATHERS AND THE AREA IS CALLED THE SARGASSO SEA
- Apart from the clockwise circulation of the currents, there are also currents that enter the North Atlantic from
the Arctic reigon
- These cold water are blown south by the out-flowing polar winds, the Irmiger Current or East Greenland
Current flows between Iceland and Greenland and cools the North Atlantic Drift at the point of convergence.
- The cold Labarador Current drifts south-eastwards between the West Greenland and Baffin Island to meet the
warm Gulf Stream off Newfoundland, as fat as south as 50oN where the icebergs carried south by the Labrador
Current melt

- The South Atlantic Ocean follows the same pattern of circulation as the North Atlantic Ocean. The major
differences are that the circuit is anti-clockwise and the collection of sea-weed in the still waters of the mid-
South Atlantic is not so distinctive
- Where the South Equatorial Current is split at Cape Sao Roque, one branch turns south as the warm Brazillian
current.
- Its deep blue water are easily distinguishable from the yellow, muddy waters carried hundreds of miles out to
sea by the Amazon further north.
- At about 40oS the influence of the prevailing westerlies and the rotation of the earth propel the current
eastwards to merge with the cold West Wind Drift as the South Atlantic Current
- On reaching the west coast of Africa the current is diverted northwards as the cold Benguela current.
- Between the North and South Equatorial Currents is the east flowing Equatorial Counter Current

 The Circulation of the Pacific Ocean

- The pattern of circulation in the Pacific is similar to that of the Atlantic except in modifications which can be
expected from the greater size and the more open nature of the Pacific.
- The North Equatorial Current flows westwards with a compensating Equatorial Counter Current running in the
opposite direction
 - Due to the great expanse of the Pacific and the absence of ab obstructing land mass the volume of water is very
much greater than that of the Atlantic equatorial current
- The North-East Trade Winds blow the North Equatorial Current off the coasts of the Phillippines and Formaso
into the East China Sea at the Kuroship or Kuro Siwa or Japan current
- The warm waters are carried polewards as the North Pacific Drift keeping the ports of the Alaskan coast ice-
free in winter.
- The cold Bering Current or Alaskan Current creeps southwards from the narrow Beringn strait and is joined by
the Okhotsk Current to meet the warm Japan current as the OYASHIO, off Hokkiado. NOTE THAT Oyoshio
current is also known as KURILE current (KURILE island is a disputed territory between Russia and Japan which
is a part of current affairs)
- The cold water eventually sinks beneath the warmer waters of the North Pacific Drift.
- Part of its drifts eastwards as the cool Californian current along the coast of the western USA and coalesces
with the North Equatorial Current to complete the clock-wise circulation

- The current system of the South Pacific is the same as that of the south Atlantic.
- The South Equatorial current, driven by the south-east trade winds, flows southwards along the coast of
Queensland as the East Australian Current, bringing warm equatorial waters ito temperatre waters.
- The current turns eastwards towards New Zealand under the full force of the westerlies in the Tasman Sea and
merges with part of the cold West Wind Drift as the South Pacific Current
- Obstructed by the tip of the southern Chile, the current turns northwards along the western coast of South
America as the cold Humboldt or Peruvian Current.

 The Indian Ocean Circulation

- As in the other ocean, the currents of the South Indian Ocean form a circuit.
- The Equatorial Current, turning southwards past Madagascar as the agulhas or Mozambique Current merges
with the West Wind drift, flowing eastwards and turns equatorwards as the West Australian Current.
- In the North Indian Ocean, there is a complete reversal of the direction of current between summer and
winter, due ot the changes of monsoon winds.
- In summer from June to October, when the dominant winds is the South West Monsoon, the currents are
blown from a south-westerly direction as the south west Monsoon drift.
- This is reversed in the winter beginning from December when the North-East Monsoon blows the currents
from the north-east as the North-East Monsoon Drift.
- The currents of the North Indian Ocean, demonstrate most convincingly the dominant effects of wind on the
circulation of ocean currents.

 Effects of Ocean Currents

- West coasts of the continents in tropical and subtropical latitudes are bordered by cool water, their average
temperature are relatively low with a narrow diurnal and annual ranges. There is fog but generally the areas
are arid
- IN the middle and high latitudes, the west coast are bordered by warm water which causes a distinct marine
climate.
- They are charecterised by cool summers and relatively mild winters with a narrow annual range of
temperatures.
- Warm currents flow parallel to the east coasts of the continents in tropical and subtropical latitudes. This
results in warm and rainy climates. These areas lie in the western margins of the subtropical anti-cyclones.
- The mixing of warm and cold currents help to replenish the oxygen and favour the growth of planktons, the
primary food for fish population. The best fishing grounds of the world exist mainly in these mixing zones.
 Components of Water cycle

- About 71% of the planetary water is found in the oceans.

- The remaining is held as freshwater in glaciers and icecaps, groundwater sources, lakes, soil moisture,
atmosphere, streams and within life.
- Nearly 59% of the water that falls on land returns to the atmosphere through evaporation from over the oceans
as well as from other places.

 Miscellaneous Points
- The Pacific Ocean is the biggest ocean of the world and covers more than 30% of the Earth’s surface
- The lowest known point on earth is called Challenger Deep which is near Guam in the Phillippines Sea at the
end of the Marina Trench.

- The Atlantic is half the size of the Pacific and covers roughly 20% of the Earth’s surface.
- It is growing in size as it is spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Coasts.
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge/ Mid-Oceanic Ridge is the longest mountain range on Earth is in Atlantic ocean.

- Indian Ocean is between Africa, Australia and Asia

- It is the largest breeding grounds of the world for humpback whales.
- Southern Ocean is located around the south pole, across the Antartic circle in the southern hemisphere
- It is the home of Emperor Penguins and Wandering Albatrosses

- Arctic Ocean is located around the North Pole across the Arctic circle
- There are many polar bears living on the Arctic ice.

- Average Depth in decreasing order

 Pacific
 Indian
 Atlantic
 Southern
 Arctic

- Coastline in decreasing otfrt

 Pacific
 Atlantic
 Indian
 Arctic
 Southern Ocean