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Natural Factors/Processes - Coggle Diagram
Natural Factors/Processes
Topography
Coffee which is grown at a higher elevation tend to be more acidly and complex while lower elevations tends to be intensely coffee flavoured. A change in pressure is only one difference that happens at higher altitudes. The other thing that occurs is that the temperature drops.
Some research demonstrates and states that a difference in taste is seen depending on the altitude that the plant is grown in.
Suggesting to grow coffee beans in higher altitude goes back for more than 50 years, yet still today high altitude coffee is still bragged about in many companies.
Higher altitudes have very thin air. This is because there's low air pressure up there causing less oxygen to be present in any given breath of air.
Not only coffee but many plants have a different taste when they are grown in different altitude's.
Another difference in higher altitude other than the change in air pressure is temperature drop. A change in the temperature is seen at different elevations which effects many aspects of a plants growth and development.
The different elevations at which coffee is grown is 900m to 1500m above sea level. Anything under this range is considered as low altitude which is not good for the coffee to grow at.
Countries which grow their coffee at 1500m altitude is Ethiopia, Colombia, Kenya, Guatemala, Sulawesi, Papua New Guinea. (Very High Altitude)
Countries which grow their coffee at the altitude of 1200m is Costa Rica, Java Sumantra, Nicaragua, Mexico Altura. (High Altitude)
Temperature
Coffee beans require an average temperature of 20-27°C all throughout the year. Bright sunshine and warm weather are needed for harvesting the beans.
The growth of coffee is considered to be more rapid/faster during hot rainy seasons and is later ripe to pick around cool dry seasons. Without these certain weathers the plant wont be able to grow as low temperature weathers bring frost which the plant cannot resist and adapt to.
The amount of solar radiation released at a certain area is mostly because of the suns angle of incidence. The angle of incidence is the angle at which the suns ray strikes the earth's surface.
Isolation is measured by the amount of solar energy received per square centimetre per minute. the amount of isolation received determines the average temperature of the area. During the whole day the time when the strongest insulation is received is at noon.
As the temperature increases so does the process of evaporation. In relation to that the moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere also increases with temperature. For every 10C increase in global temperatures there is a 7% increase in the moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere. The more moisture in the atmosphere leads to changes in rainfall patterns.
The inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ zone) is near the equator, around 5° north and 5° south, the northeast trade winds and the southeast trade winds converge in the low pressure zone. Solar heating in the region forces air to rise through convection which then results in high rainfall.
Rainfall
Regions where majority of the coffee production occurs have an annual mean precipitation of between the range of 1200 - 1300
Solar radiation hits the surface of water or land and causes water to change state from a liquid to gas. The gas released into the air is called water vapours.
An increase in temperature speeds up (increases) the process of evaporation. The moisture which is holding capacity of the atmosphere increases with temperature.
For every 10c increase in global temperature there is a 7% increase in the moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere. The more moisture in the air leads to change in rainfall patterns.
The higher the temperature, the more air will rise. This means that there will be more cloud formation in areas with higher temperatures. This is evident in the inter tropical convergence zone where high evaporation leads to an accumulation of cloud, ultimately leading to rainfall
Near the equator, from about 5° north and 5° south, the northeast trade winds and southeast trade winds converge in a low pressure zone known as the Inter tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Solar heating in the region forces air to rise through convection which results in high rainfall.