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Old 02-03-2012, 05:19 PM
 
Location: New York City
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So, we've talked at length about the Koppen climate classification but actually there is another, much lesser known classification developed my a Russian (Soviet) geographer and climatologist Boris. P. Alisov during the 1930s. This classification was used primarily by scientists in the Soviet Union and other countries within the Soviet block. I thought it might be of interest to take a quick look at it.



The classification consists mainly of 7 broad bands which are as follows:
Red - equatorial
Orange - sub-equatorial
Yellow - tropical
Bright green (lime) - subtropical
Darkish green - temperate
Blue - subarctic/subantarctic
Grey - arctic/antarctic

While not visible on the above map, the bands were further subdivided longitudinally. For example, the western part of a temperate band on a continent is classified as "temperate oceanic". Immediately to the east of it is a "mild-continental climate" followed by "strongly continental" and then "temperate monsoon". The subtropical zone follows a similar pattern, the Mediterranean climate all the way in the west to a monsoon climate on the eastern edge of continents.


Some peculiarities:
  • The tropics band includes a lot of deserts. There is no tropical band in East Asia
  • The temperate band stretches very far north, above the arctic circle in some places
  • The boundary between the temperate and the subtropical zone in North America passes very close to NYC
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Old 02-03-2012, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Buxton, England
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Looks quite illogical to me. The UK certainly doesn't have the same climate type as central Russia.
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Old 02-03-2012, 05:26 PM
 
Location: New York City
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Found a more detailed map:

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Old 02-03-2012, 05:29 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
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I'm assuming the boundaries between subtropical and temperate are based on summer temps?
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Old 02-03-2012, 05:39 PM
 
Location: Toronto
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That's really interesting. What are the categories based on? It's kind of hard to imagine a category that includes Chicago and the Aleutian islands, Scotland and Siberia.
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Old 02-03-2012, 05:41 PM
 
Location: Laurentia
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It's an inferior system compared to the others that have been developed, but still it is interesting and a nice obscure item that has been unearthed.
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Old 02-03-2012, 05:43 PM
 
Location: New York City
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
I'm assuming the boundaries between subtropical and temperate are based on summer temps?
Not quite sure. Best I can tell, the entire classification relies more on studying air circulation patterns (fronts, jet streams etc) than specific temperatures. The subtropical zone is one that is under the influence of tropical fronts during the summer and temperate or polar fronts during the winter.
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Old 02-03-2012, 05:45 PM
 
Location: Toronto
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What's the deal with tropical vs. subequatorial?
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Old 02-03-2012, 05:56 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
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I don't think temperate monsoon makes much sense for eastern North America (at least north of Georgia or so), the monsoon is more of an East Asian thing.
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Old 02-03-2012, 06:43 PM
 
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
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so according to that last map Buenos Aires haves tropical weather?
i dont think so.

Weirdest thing is Mar del Plata with its cool summers and cold winter will be considered tropical, too, lol.

And the second map is different from the first one?
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