T5 Planetary Climates

[SpaceBadger]

I don't have T5 yet, but I would like to use the planetary climate field of extended UWP as shown at Travellermap.

Here is my best guess of the order of climates from coldest to hottest, but I am not sure about some of them and am asking for clarification:

Frozen
Cold
Tundra (like Cold but with restrictions on Size/Atmo/Hydro)
Tropic (like Hot but with restrictions on Size/Atmo/Hydro)
Hot

Setting aside the issue that "Tundra" is not really a climate but a combination of terrain and vegetation, and that "Tropic" is also not a climate but a region of latitude on either side of the equator, I would like to know if T5 provides any further description or distinction between the various listed climates. Are there distinctions given to differentiate Tundra from Cold, or Tropic from Hot?

Also, what is the Twilight climate supposed to mean? All it says on Travellermap is that it is a planet in Orbit 0 or 1. Are all planets in orbit 0 or 1 automatically Twilight if not Tide-Locked? What is the effect of a planet having a Twilight climate?

Also, it seems like "Garden" should be in with climates, but it is based only on combinations of Size/Atmo/Hydro. Is it just assumed that Garden includes a climate in between Tundra and Tropic? Otherwise it appears there is no medium climate in between cool and warm.

 

[esampson]

Tundra might not literally be a climate but it is pretty much the next closest thing. The reason you have that type of vegetation is because of the climate and a highly altered terrain would alter the effects of climate.

You are correct that Tropic does have a precise meaning that deals with the axial tilt of the planet but in the context of extended world UWP what they are referring to is 'Tropical', as in 'similar to the Tropics (of Earth)'.

Cold is suppose to be the lower limits of human endurance (as given on page 80) and Frozen is colder than that (since it is further out).

Tropical is just a subcategory of Hot. Tropical planets are Hot. You could also have a Desert planet that is Hot. You could have a planet with vast savannas where you have a Hot planet with enough water that they aren't Desert planets (10-20%) but there isn't enough water for the lush plant life that a Tropic planet would have.

Twilight planets are planets that are tidally locked to their star. The have multiple sub climates because you have one side that is very hot, one side that is very cold, and a transition zone where most of the life probably resides (I would imagine there might be some life forms that have evolved that make treks deep into either the day zone or the night zone for various reasons but they would most likely need to return to the twilight zone in the middle for the purposes of fattening back up).

 

[SpaceBadger]

Twilight planets are planets that are tidally locked to their star. The have multiple sub climates because you have one side that is very hot, one side that is very cold, and a transition zone where most of the life probably resides (I would imagine there might be some life forms that have evolved that make treks deep into either the day zone or the night zone for various reasons but they would most likely need to return to the twilight zone in the middle for the purposes of fattening back up).

Are you sure about that? Because there is also a T5 Climate listed as "Locked" which I think would cover the Tide-Locked situation. Seems like "Twilight" must refer to something different, perhaps a Mercury situation.

 

[esampson]

Are you sure about that? Because there is also a T5 Climate listed as "Locked" which I think would cover the Tide-Locked situation. Seems like "Twilight" must refer to something different, perhaps a Mercury situation.

I'm sure. The category of Locked refers to satellites tidally locked to the planets they orbit. Why have a different category for a tidally locked planet and a tidally locked satellite? I assume because the climactic effects are different. A tidally locked satellite still gets sunlight to all sides. It simply has to do a complete orbit to do so (which is why it is usually a mistake to refer to the 'dark side' of the moon).

 

[SpaceBadger]

I'm sure. The category of Locked refers to satellites tidally locked to the planets they orbit. Why have a different category for a tidally locked planet and a tidally locked satellite? I assume because the climactic effects are different. A tidally locked satellite still gets sunlight to all sides. It simply has to do a complete orbit to do so (which is why it is usually a mistake to refer to the 'dark side' of the moon).

OK, thanks for the clarification.

 

[Draconian]

Mercury

When I look it up, Mercury has a complex rotation. It is not actually tidally locked but rotates in a "harmonic" with apparent solar day.

http://www.universetoday.com/14008/rotation-of-mercury/