How Wladimir Köppen Classified the World’s Climate Systems

By Phineas Upham

Wladimir Köppen was born in Russia in 1846, although he was of German descent. Köppen’s grandfather was brought to Russia by Catherine II, who wanted to see what she could do to improve sanitation for her people. His father became a geographer, which young Wladimir took an interest in as well.

That interest grew into study of meteorology and botany. Through his studies, he made several important contributions, but the one he’s most remembered for is the Köppen Classification System. Although it’s been heavily modified from its original theory, the basics are still useful to climatologists today.

Köppen was quite well-rounded, and was one of the last remaining scholars of this stature to make significant contributions to multiple branches of the sciences. That’s not as common today, where one specializes in a particular discipline for most of one’s life.

His first job was with the Russian Meteorological Service, but he relocated to Germany in order to become chief of the Division of Marine Meteorology at the German Naval Observatory. Köppen worked on a weather forecasting service there, which was meant to predict patterns in Northwestern Germany and adjacent seas.

Wladimir Köppen studied climate through experimentation with balloons, learning about the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. He also used instrumentation he made to gather data. Using that data, Köppen was able to publish a climactic zone map in 1884. Eventually, that map would become the rudimentary beginnings of a classification system. He would not perfect it until 1936, but the document helped us understand global climate trends that humanity had previously never analyzed.

About the Author: Phineas Upham is an investor at a family office hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media and Telecom group. You may contact Phin on his Phineas Upham website or Facebook page.