PPT: Monsoon Classical Theory | Geography for UPSC CSE PDF Download

 Page 1


• India’ s climate is dominated by monsoons.
• Monsoons are strong, often violent winds that change
direction with the season.
• The term technically
describes seasonal
reversals of wind direction
caused by temperature
differences between the
land and sea breeze,
creating zones of high and
low pressure over land in
different seasons.
Page 2


• India’ s climate is dominated by monsoons.
• Monsoons are strong, often violent winds that change
direction with the season.
• The term technically
describes seasonal
reversals of wind direction
caused by temperature
differences between the
land and sea breeze,
creating zones of high and
low pressure over land in
different seasons.
Monsoons occur due to 
changes in atmospheric 
pressure which are caused by 
different rates of heating and 
cooling of continents and 
oceans. 
Monsoons occur every year in 
many countries around the 
world other than South Asia -
northern Australia, Africa, 
South America and the US are 
also affected. 
The geographical extent of 
the global surface 
monsoons (the figure 
below) can be outlined by 
the normalized seasonality
Page 3


• India’ s climate is dominated by monsoons.
• Monsoons are strong, often violent winds that change
direction with the season.
• The term technically
describes seasonal
reversals of wind direction
caused by temperature
differences between the
land and sea breeze,
creating zones of high and
low pressure over land in
different seasons.
Monsoons occur due to 
changes in atmospheric 
pressure which are caused by 
different rates of heating and 
cooling of continents and 
oceans. 
Monsoons occur every year in 
many countries around the 
world other than South Asia -
northern Australia, Africa, 
South America and the US are 
also affected. 
The geographical extent of 
the global surface 
monsoons (the figure 
below) can be outlined by 
the normalized seasonality
The global surface monsoons contains three kinds of
monsoons: the tropical, subtropical, and temperate-frigid
monsoons, respectively.
The extent of the classical tropical monsoons is surrounded by the
positions of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in
summer and winter, which is the result of the two driving forcings
of the tropical monsoon, the seasonal variation of the planetary
thermal convection and the seasonal variation of the semi-
permanent planetary waves due to the thermal contrast between
ocean and continent. (Li and Zeng, 2000, 2003, 2005).
Page 4


• India’ s climate is dominated by monsoons.
• Monsoons are strong, often violent winds that change
direction with the season.
• The term technically
describes seasonal
reversals of wind direction
caused by temperature
differences between the
land and sea breeze,
creating zones of high and
low pressure over land in
different seasons.
Monsoons occur due to 
changes in atmospheric 
pressure which are caused by 
different rates of heating and 
cooling of continents and 
oceans. 
Monsoons occur every year in 
many countries around the 
world other than South Asia -
northern Australia, Africa, 
South America and the US are 
also affected. 
The geographical extent of 
the global surface 
monsoons (the figure 
below) can be outlined by 
the normalized seasonality
The global surface monsoons contains three kinds of
monsoons: the tropical, subtropical, and temperate-frigid
monsoons, respectively.
The extent of the classical tropical monsoons is surrounded by the
positions of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in
summer and winter, which is the result of the two driving forcings
of the tropical monsoon, the seasonal variation of the planetary
thermal convection and the seasonal variation of the semi-
permanent planetary waves due to the thermal contrast between
ocean and continent. (Li and Zeng, 2000, 2003, 2005).
Surface temperature range that results in the monsoon
Tibetan 
plateau 
Ocean: 
range of 
3 to 5°C
Sea surface temperature variations are much smaller than land surface 
temperature variations. (Mainly the seasonal cycle)
Page 5


• India’ s climate is dominated by monsoons.
• Monsoons are strong, often violent winds that change
direction with the season.
• The term technically
describes seasonal
reversals of wind direction
caused by temperature
differences between the
land and sea breeze,
creating zones of high and
low pressure over land in
different seasons.
Monsoons occur due to 
changes in atmospheric 
pressure which are caused by 
different rates of heating and 
cooling of continents and 
oceans. 
Monsoons occur every year in 
many countries around the 
world other than South Asia -
northern Australia, Africa, 
South America and the US are 
also affected. 
The geographical extent of 
the global surface 
monsoons (the figure 
below) can be outlined by 
the normalized seasonality
The global surface monsoons contains three kinds of
monsoons: the tropical, subtropical, and temperate-frigid
monsoons, respectively.
The extent of the classical tropical monsoons is surrounded by the
positions of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in
summer and winter, which is the result of the two driving forcings
of the tropical monsoon, the seasonal variation of the planetary
thermal convection and the seasonal variation of the semi-
permanent planetary waves due to the thermal contrast between
ocean and continent. (Li and Zeng, 2000, 2003, 2005).
Surface temperature range that results in the monsoon
Tibetan 
plateau 
Ocean: 
range of 
3 to 5°C
Sea surface temperature variations are much smaller than land surface 
temperature variations. (Mainly the seasonal cycle)
Monsoon is a term derived form the Arabic word 
“ Mausim”, meaning season. It was first used by 
Arabic navigators to describe the seasonal winds of 
the Arabian Sea.
These winds blow from the north-east for  one half 
of the year and from the south-west for the other 
half.
Monsoon winds 
blow from cold to 
warm regions 
because cold air 
takes up more space 
than warm air