This is equivalent to about 60 km - an area of about 3,600 sq. Using spatial extrapolation, a value is computed for each cell based on the neighbouring station values. Annual totals for rainfall, and the averages for temperature and sunshine, were derived from the monthly values. Dry Annual evaporation exceeds annual precipitation.
Colours correspond to dominant vegetation types.
Zones shaded in greys and blue have a steppe climate, while those in shades of orange are desert. Areas indicated in magenta are characterized by a summer dry season - at least three times as much rain falls in the wettest month of winter as in the driest month of summer, the latter having less than 30mm precipitation. Biomass potential Potential biomass is the amount of plant biomass that can be accumulated in one year under the assumption of ideal conditions prevailing for photosynthesis, i.e. absorption of solar energy by plants and storage of the energy as plant material. The map given below uses one of the earliest methods, developed by H. Lieth and published in 1972. WinDisp contains all the analytical functions of IDA, as well as many new additional features that provide a simpler, yet more powerful interface in the Windows environment.