Arid climate

one speaks of an arid climate (Latin aridus = drying, dryly), if the precipitation is smaller in a region than the possible evaporation. This entails a very low air humidity .

Distinctive between

• full-arid climate: Precipitation < Evaporation applies to10 to 12 months in the year
• semiarid climate: Precipitation < Evaporation applies to 6 to 9 months in the year.

Most dry regions lie in the subtropical desert belt, because the trade winds arrive only up to the so-called horse latitudes, but give it arid climates likewisein other regions, for example in many high mountains and „the polar deserts “.

Also on the planet Mars prevails a kind desert climate, which despite the very thin CO ₂ - atmosphere often long-continuous sandstorms causes. This led also to the fact that „the Mars channels “for many decades as natural or artificial Wasserrinnen were interpreted.

See also:

• Humid climate, Semihumides climate, isotherms, solar energy
• aridity, steam pressure, climatology, air temperature, cloudless, Strahlungsbilanz, weather service