Tropical savanna climate

A tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons, classified as Aw or As in the Köppen climate system. Its dry season is longer or more pronounced than in tropical monsoon climates.

Intertropical Convergence Zone: A near-equatorial belt where trade winds converge and rising air produces frequent clouds and rain. Its seasonal migration shifts the rain belt and helps create the savanna climate’s wet and dry seasons.
Köppen climate classification: A system that classifies climates using long-term temperature and precipitation patterns. It defines the Aw and As codes used for tropical savanna climates.
Tropical savanna: A tropical grassland ecosystem with scattered trees, shaped by seasonal rainfall, fire, and grazing. This vegetation commonly develops under the climate’s alternating wet and dry seasons.
Serengeti: An East African ecosystem in Tanzania and Kenya known for grasslands and large-scale wildlife migrations. Its seasonal rains and grasslands provide a prominent African savanna example.
Trade winds: Persistent winds that blow from subtropical high-pressure belts toward the equatorial low-pressure zone. Their seasonal flow affects when moist air reaches tropical savanna regions.
Aw climate: A Köppen tropical savanna climate with a dry winter season. This is the most common code for the tropical savanna climate.
Rain-fed agriculture: Crop production that relies primarily on rainfall rather than irrigation. Farmers must time planting and harvest around the savanna climate’s wet season.
Brazilian Cerrado: A vast tropical savanna region of central Brazil, with grasslands, shrublands, and woodland. It illustrates the climate’s South American expression and its pronounced wet and dry seasons.
Hadley cell: A tropical atmospheric circulation in which air rises near the equator and descends in the subtropics. Its rising and sinking branches underpin the seasonal circulation that shapes rainfall.
As climate: A Köppen tropical savanna climate with a dry summer season. This less common code captures savanna climates whose dry season falls in summer.

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