3.4 The tropical climate

• Aardrijkskunde
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

3.4 The tropical climate

Learning objectives:

After studying this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the two types of tropical climate;
• Explain how the sun causes the wet and dry seasons in the savannah climate.

The tropics, the subtropics and other geographical zones on Earth.

Climate graph for Bandung, Indonesia (Af).

Climate graph for Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Aw).

 The savannah landscape in Tanzania.

Tropical rainforest in Australia.

Monsoon climate = Climate zone with high temperatures and a specific dry period and also very high precipitation events during the wet season.

Convectional rainfall

High levels of solar radiation in the tropics lead to convectional rainfall.

How it is formed:

1. Energy from the sun heats up the land and the air above;
2. A high rate of evaporation;
3. The warm and humid air rises;
4. Warm wet air rises and cools down;
5. Clouds are formed and rain will fall.

Three types of rainfall

There are three types of rainfall:

1. Precipitation caused by incoming solar radiation = Convectional rainfall.
2. Rainfall caused by the collision of a warm and cold front = Frontal rainfall.
3. Rainfall caused by air that is pushed up by a mountain ridge = orographic or relief rainfall.

Hadley cell circulation

Hadley cell

Tropical atmospheric circulation.

Trade winds

Prevailing winds in the tropics, blowing from east to west.

Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)
Area where the northern and southern trade winds come together, causing rising air and thunderstorms.

ITCZ

The location of the ITCZ (a low pressure area in the tropics) in January and July.

Essence

There are two types of tropical climates: the tropical rainforest climate and the savannah climate. Both of these have high temperatures throughout the year. The tropical climate is wet all year round, whereas the savannah climate features a wet and a dry season. The differences between the wet and dry seasons are caused by the Sun’s movement throughout the seasons, which shifts the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The amount and timing of rainfall has a big influence on the landscape.

Look at the planner in Somtoday for the homework!