CLIMATOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

 INTRODUCTION
What's the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is what the forecasters on the TV news predict each day. They tell people about the
temperature, cloudiness, humidity, and whether a storm is likely in the next few days. Thats
weather! It is the mix of events that happens each day in our atmosphere. Weather is not the same
everywhere. It may be hot and sunny in one part of the world, but freezing and snowy in another.
Climate is the average weather in a place over many years. While the weather can change in just a
few hours, climate takes hundreds, thousands, even millions of years to change.

 What is Climate?
Climate is defined as an area's long-term weather patterns. The simplest way to describe climate is to
look at average temperature and precipitation over time. Other useful elements for describing climate
include the type and the timing of precipitation, amount of sunshine, average wind speeds and directions,
number of days above freezing, weather extremes, and local geography.

While it's fairly easy to describe a location's climate by examining weather data, a greater challenge is
figuring out why the climate of one place differs from that of another. To do so, you must consider all
the factors that work together to determine climate.

 climate change
A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late
20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide
produced by the use of fossil fuels.
Indian Climate
India is home to an extraordinary variety of climatic regions, ranging from tropical in the south to
temperate and alpine in the Himalayan north, where elevated regions receive sustained winter
snowfall. The nation's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert.
Tropical climate
A tropical climate is a climate typically found within the tropics, while a few locations outside the
Tropics are considered to have a tropical climate. In the Kppen climate classification it is a non-arid
climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures of at least 18 C (64 F).A tropical
climate has warm temperatures throughout the year and a significant amount of precipitation. The
average temperature each month is higher than 64 F, and tropical areas get at least 59 inches of
rainfall annually.

 Temperate climate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of Earth lie between the tropics and the polar regions. The
temperatures in these regions are generally relatively moderate, rather than extremely hot or cold, and
the changes between summer and winter are also usually moderate.

Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather (climate) for the regions above the tree line. This climate is also
referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate.

Relation between Climate and Architecture

Charles Correa, a well-known architect once said,
"form follows climate". This thought essentially
suggests that a built environment can respond to
climate or use it as an advantage. Traditionally, most
buildings fundamentally responded to climate. For
instance, if you look at the indigenous development in
coastal Karnataka, most of the structures have sloping
roofs in response to the heavy rains. But with
globalization, we seem to be losing out on many of
these useful indigenous design solutions.
Building orientation is an important parameter for a
climate-responsive building. The amount of daylight
received by a building is determined by its orientation.
And the north is considered ideal as it receives uniform
uninterrupted light through the day, so most of the living
spaces can be positioned accordingly. Design
approaches can also shut out excess heat from
entering the living spaces. With innovative orientation
you can stop the harsh south-west radiation from
coming into the building. Further, using solar shade
screens, roof overhangs, awnings, trees and other
landscaping can also shade the indoors.

Wind
The use of natural winds to enhance the
living environment is another solution offered
by climatic design. "Air movement is
essentially a design issue. One of the easiest
things to do is close the building and aircondition it. A place like Bangalore does not
need air conditioning for most part of the
year. So using air movement and ventilation
effectively can cut down energy needs," says
Mohe. To improve cooling, a building's
windows should be placed and designed to
capture prevailing winds. And Mohe also
suggests the use of 'venturi effect'. It is
essentially about looking at design in
volumes i.e. when you force a wind to move
into a narrow opening and expand into a
larger volume, the effect can be quite
incredible. This design strategy creates what
is referred to as wind tunnels and keeps the
living spaces cool and airy." In fact this idea
always works irrespective of the predominant
wind direction", adds Mohe.
Cross ventilation is yet another idea. It
involves a window that opens to the wind
allowing breezes into the building and
another window on the opposite side that lets
stagnant air to be flushed out. This strategy
creates continuous air movement in aspace.

Landscape
Landscaping is another design tool. For example,
extensive use of trees minimizes heat build-up around
buildings. Placing trees along the southern face of a
building will provide shade and heat reduction in the
summer. In addition, fairly dense planting around
houses can direct breezes for natural cooling. Another
innovative idea would be to have a water body about
the prevailing wind direction. And when the wind moves
over the water body onto the living spaces, it can bring
in gushes of cool breeze.

HUMAN ADAPTABILITY TOWARDS ITS BUILT ENVIRONMENT:

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan- Hot and Dry Climate

HABITAT FOOTPRINT OF TWO INDIAN DESERT
BUILT ENVIRONMENT refers to the man-made surroundings that provide
THE SETTING FOR HUMAN ACTIVITY- ranging from personal shelter to
neighbourhoods to the large-scale civic surroundings.
In addition, human settlement may be partially influenced by CONTEXTUAL and
CULTURAL factors.

Spituk, Leh- Cold desert Climate

INDIGENOUS HUMAN HABITAT IS A PRODUCT OF EVOLUTION IN RESPONSE TO ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT

JAISELMER (Hot dry desert India)

Maximum Temperature +52O C

LEH (Cold dry desert India)

Minimum Temperature 30O C

JAISALMER

JAISALMER
CONTEXTUAL DEMAND TRANSFORMING THE ARCHITECTURE: the streets have mutual shading

 A PERSONS SENSE OF THERMAL IS PRIMARILY A RESULT OF THE BODYS HEAT EXCHANGE

WITH THE ENVIRONMENT.
This is influenced by four parameters that constitute:
- THE THERMAL ENVIRONMENT (Air- temperature, Radiant temperature, Humidity and Air speed)
- PERSONAL PARAMETERS (Clothing and Activity level, or Metabolic rate)

THERMAL ADAPTATION
Mans experience of a place is a multi-variation phenomena and a reflection of the degree to which the place contributes
to a persons objectives and expectations.
The adaptive approach of thermal comfort, thermal perception is affected by circumstances beyond the physics of the
bodys heat-balance, such as climate setting, social conditioning, economic considerations and other contextual factors.
The adaptive hypothesis states that ones satisfaction is achieved by matching the actual thermal environmental
conditions prevailing at that point in time and space, with ones thermal expectations of what the indoor climate should
be like.
A variable temperature standard links indoor temperatures to the climatic context of the building and accounts for
thermal experiences and current thermal expectations of their occupants. In short, satisfaction occurs through
appropriate adaptation to the indoor climatic environment.

The three components of

adaptation to indoor climate

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAMS OF THERMAL EXPECTATIONS.

Behavioral and technological

adjustments

Climatocultural
practices &norms

preferenc
e
Thermal
expectatio
n

satisfacti
on
Thermal artect
thermal discomfort
thermal sensation

Past
thermal
environmen
ts

Physiological thermoregulation

Present heat /cold loads on body

Environmental
adjustments

THERMAL COMFORT FACTORS

The human body continuously produces heat by its METABOLIC PROCESSES.
The heat output of an average body is often taken as 100W,
This heat must be dissipated to the environment, or else the body temperature will increase.
This deep-body temperature is normally about 37oC, whilst the skin temperature can vary between 31 and 34oC.
The bodys thermal balance can be expressed as:

Here,
M = METABOLIC HEAT PRODUCTION
Rd = NET RADIATION EXCHANGE
Cv = CONVECTION (incl. Respiration)
Cd = CONDUCTION
Ev = EVAPORATION (incl. in Respiration)
S = CHANGE IN STORED HEAT
A condition of equilibrium is that the sum (i.e. the S) is zero.
SUCH EQUILIBRIUM IS A PRECONDITION OF THERMAL COMFORT.
HEAT EXCHANGES OF THE HUMAN BODY.

However, comfort is defined as:

the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment, it requires subjective evaluation

Elements of weather and climate

a) Temperature is how hot or cold the atmosphere is, how many
degrees Celsius (centigrade) it is above or below freezing (0C).
Temperature is a very important factor in determining the weather,
because it influences or controls other elements of the weather,
such as precipitation, humidity, clouds and atmospheric pressure.
b) Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.
c) Precipitation is the term given to moisture that falls from the air
to the ground. Precipitation includes snow, hail, sleet, drizzle, fog,
mist and rain.
d) Atmospheric pressure (or air pressure) is the weight of air
resting on the earth's surface. Pressure is shown on a weather
map, often called a synoptic map, with lines called isobars.
e) Wind is the movement of air masses from high pressure areas
(highs) to low pressure areas (lows).

THANK YOU