Abstract
Clustering has become a crucial technique in climate assessment and regional zoning, offering valuable insights into similar weather patterns, facilitating hydrological planning, and aiding in the comparison of research outcomes. This study aims to utilize sub-daily precipitation data spanning from 1991 to 2020 across 65 synoptic stations in Iran to cluster the temporal distribution pattern of 24-h precipitation. The Pilgrim's Average Variability method was initially employed to determine the temporal distribution pattern, with precipitation divided into four 6-h time steps. Subsequently, the Fuzzy C-means algorithm was applied using various approaches to form five homogeneous regions. The study findings indicate a prevailing central peak precipitation pattern in the majority of regions, characterized by a concentration of precipitation during the midpoint of the temporal duration. Conversely, the southern segments of the Alborz Mountain range manifest a delayed precipitation pattern, wherein the maximum precipitation occurs toward the end of the temporal duration. To assess the clustering accuracy of these patterns, the Silhouette score was employed, yielding an average score of 0.62 across Iran. This denotes a satisfactory level of accuracy in the clustering process. Furthermore, a nuanced analysis revealed that two provinces exhibit heightened diversity in temporal precipitation patterns, revealing the existence of four distinct patterns within these regions. This study provides valuable insights into the temporal distribution of sub-daily precipitation patterns, offering a foundation for more refined climate assessments, localized planning, and enhanced hydrological flood analyses in Iran.
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Mr. Kosha Hoghoughinia is a PhD student and performed the data collection and analysis. Dr. Bahram Saghafian and Dr. Saleh Aminyavari are the supervisor and advisor of this student, respectively
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Communicated by: H. Babaie
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Hoghoughinia, K., Saghafian, B. & Aminyavari, S. Clustering the temporal distribution pattern of sub-daily precipitations over Iran. Earth Sci Inform (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-024-01261-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-024-01261-2