The Köppen–Geiger climate classification made simpler (I hope so)

[antillies]

The oceanic circulation always forms a loop, and since there is water "draining east" around the 45°, it follows that water must flow south->north to replace it. The winds would also be a factor. Also, due to that mass of water having been deflected northwards by the Philippines, it already has some momentum behind it in that direction.

It's not dependant on the continental shelf, as these are surface currents (and indeed primarily tied to atmospheric circulation, ie. wind patterns).

I appreciate the reply Charerg, and that makes good sense. The issue is, as you address later in your edit, that the above logic is reasonable given an established system but when trying to build it from scratch, it can’t necessarily be relied upon to direct how things should be built.

Edit:
I guess the main takeaway when it comes to automating the process is identifying bodies of water that would contain a "closed loop", since it would be good to replicate the circular pattern of real oceanic currents. Most smaller bodies of water and inlets/bays could mostly be ignored as they wouldn't make that big of a difference when it comes to the global climate.

I thank you for saying this since my own approach has been slightly different. I hadn’t considered isolating the bodies of water themselves and using those edges to be the guide for currents. I may try to incorporate this approach if my current piece-meal building of the currents becomes frustrated. I’ve been having the most trouble with the islands in southeast Asia but if I were to do it as you suggest I would ignore that area entirely since it would not qualify as a major body of water (whereas the Pacific and Indian oceans would).

Attachment 119884

I don’t believe you have shared that but it’s beautifully made. How did you make the current lines so smooth?

[Charerg]

I don’t believe you have shared that but it’s beautifully made. How did you make the current lines so smooth?

They're drawn using the Paths tool in GIMP. It's a bit slow-going to draw the currents that way (as opposed to drawing them with a brush, for example), but it achieves a nice, clean look.

[Uncle Twitchy]

I've been gone from this forum for about ten years, but recently decided to rework my RPG/story world map after seeing Artifexian's tutorials on world building and map making... and then when I decided to tackle quasi-realistic climate zones I found this incredible thread and the work you fine folk have put into this.

Wow.

So... my work in progress. I'm needing some help if folks here would be willing to give it to an old grognard who hasn't been an active member of this incredible community (but would like to be).

Pressure zones and wind patterns are stymying me. I think I have the basics down, but would really appreciate some critique and input here.

Using Azélor's elevation colors (and I'm still working on refining the elevation map, but the basics are there enough to let me get the ocean currents, pressure zones, and wind currents), here's my elevation and rough, basic ocean current map:



Yes, it's rough, and there are likely areas that should have currents, but I understand the basic principles and know about closed loops and the directions and flows -- I'm unsure where the warm currents would continue to be warm coming back to close the loops, but anyway...

So this is what I came up with for my pressure zones -- have I done these correctly? This is where I start to get confused.

January


July


And even if I have these correct, I'm completely at a loss as to how the wind currents should go beyond the basic principles of the high pressure winds sending winds outward in a spiral (clockwise or counter depending on the hemisphere) and low pressure winds in an inward spiral going in the opposite direction. This was my attempt and doing the January winds before I threw up my hands and decided I didn't have a clue what I was doing:



Thanks in advance for any help you folks can give me!

[Uncle Twitchy]

Oh, did I post my request for help in a dead thread?

[Charerg]

The thread isn't completely dead (as I'm sure you've noted), though it can often take a long while before you get any really useful feedback. This stems from the reality that giving feedback in these matters tends to get rather time-consuming pretty quickly. However, as the tutorial has been around for a while there are actually a great many old threads where the climate has been tackled before, and those can be a great resource for someone looking for advice. For example, davoush and Tiluchi are two users worth checking out (though there are many others as well).

Also, you can never go wrong by looking at the climatic/wind/pressure patterns as they exist on Earth and taking that as a basis. Basically, it can be a decent strategy to just go through the tutorial with what you consider to be the most plausible scenario. As your knowledge develops further and you notice things that are off, you can always revisit the wind patterns/climates etc. later on. It doesn't have to turn out perfect on the first try .

[Uncle Twitchy]

Thanks, Chareg! Believe it or not, I've read all of these threads, pretty thoroughly, though the whole placement of pressure zones and and wind patterns has been pretty daunting for me to wrap my head around. I'm just hoping for some feedback to see if I'm heading in the right direction.

(It occurs to me that I may need to reassess some of my coastlines to show where the ocean currents are battering against them and when they're flowing past them. I'm getting there!)

[arch-fiend]

ok so its been bothering me for 13 months, since the last time i posted, every time i try to use this guide it bothers me, so im going to finally ask. i know azelor is using actual climate data for his guide and that climate data clearly shows a huge low pressure zone in australian summer, but WHY does that low pressure zone expand out over the pacific ocean? no other contanent seems to do this to any where near the same degree that australia does, the low pressure zone even begins slightly before australia in the indian ocean, whats going on here?

[Azélor]

Looking at it closely, the West Pacific pressure is lower all year long.
I guess the temperatures tend to be higher in the west.
The sea in the east is colder because it gets the currents coming from Antarctica and North America.
After than, the current merge and travel around the equator westward and accumulate heat in the process.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_circulation

It looks like I never paid enough attention to ocean's temperature.

[arch-fiend]

Looking at it closely, the West Pacific pressure is lower all year long.
I guess the temperatures tend to be higher in the west.
The sea in the east is colder because it gets the currents coming from Antarctica and North America.
After than, the current merge and travel around the equator westward and accumulate heat in the process.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_circulation

It looks like I never paid enough attention to ocean's temperature.

so would this happen on any large ocean at the equator? what happens if there are no continental shelves at the equator?

[Azélor]

Then I assume the temperature and pressure will be even along the equator.