Wladimir Peter Köppen (September 25, 1846 in Saint Petersburg, Russia — June 22, 1940 in Graz, Austria) was a German meteorologist, climatologist and botanist. He elaborated the Köppen climate classification system, which is still commonly used today to group climates into similar types (albeit with modifications). September 25 is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years). ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Graz [graːts] (Slovenian: Gradec), with a population of 305,000 (council census 2000) is the second-largest city in Austria and the capital of the province of Styria (Steiermark in German). ... Cumulus clouds Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... Climatology is the science that studies climates and investigates their phenomena and causes. ... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. ...

Although Köppen's parents were German, he himself was born in Russia and attended a school in Crimea. While being at the school, it was the first time that Köppen was attracted by the environment and especially by the relationship between plants and the climate they grow in. Later, he studied at the universities of Heidelberg and Leipzig in Germany where he graduated in 1870. His student dissertation dealt with the effects of temperature on plant growth. The Crimea (officially Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukrainian transliteration: Avtonomna Respublika Krym, Ukrainian: Автономна Республіка Крим, Russian: Автономная Республика Крым, pronounced cry-MEE-ah in English) is a peninsula and an autonomous republic of Ukraine on the northern coast of the Black Sea. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (German Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; also known as simply University of Heidelberg) was established in the town of Heidelberg in the Rhineland in 1386. ... The University of Leipzig is one of the oldest universities in Europe. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Between 1872 and 1873 Köppen was employed in the Russian meteorological service. In 1875, he moved back to Germany and became the chief of the new the Division of marine meteorology at the German naval observatory (Deutsche Seewarte) based in Hamburg. There he was responsible for establishing a weather forecasting service for the northwestern part of Germany and the adjacent sea areas. After four years of service, he was able to move on to his primary interest - the fundamental research - and left the meteorological office. 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Position of Hamburg in Germany Hamburgs central broadway Jungfernstieg at the Alster lake, between 1900 and 1914 This article is about the city in Germany. ... BBCs Alex Deakin presenting a weather report. ...

Köppen began a systematic study of the climate and also experimented with balloons to obtain data from upper air. In 1884, he published the first version of his map of climatic zones in which the seasonal temperature ranges were plotted. This work led to the development of the Köppen climate classification system around 1900, which he kept improving for the rest of his life. The full version of his system appeared first in 1918 and, after several modifications, the final version was published in 1936. Rawinsonde weather balloon just after launch. ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ... The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Apart from the description of various climate types, he was acquainted with paleoclimatology as well. In 1924 he and his son-in-law Alfred Wegener published a paper called Die Klimate der Geologischen Vorzeit (The climates of the geological past) giving a crucial support to the Milankovic theory on ice ages. Paleoclimatology is the study of climate change taken on the scale of the entire history of the earth. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Alfred Wegeners theory of continental drift was widely ridiculed in his day. ... Milutin Milanković (1879-1958) Milutin Milanković (a. ... Milankovitch cycles is the name given to the collective effect of changes in the Earths movements upon its climate. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ...

Towards the end of his life, Köppen cooperated with the German climatologist Rudolf Geiger to produce a five-volume work, Handbuch der Klimatologie (Handbook of climatology). This was never completed, but several parts, three of them by Köppen, were published. After Köppen's death in 1940, Geiger continued to work on the modifications to the climate classification system. 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

References

• Allaby, Michael (2002). Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate. New York: Facts On File, Inc. ISBN 0-81-604071-0.