Climatic classification of Saudi Arabia: An application of factor -- Cluster analysis

Abstract

This study is aimed to be a contribution to climatic regionalization of Saudi Arabia. The study applies a multivariate factor -- cluster analysis technique. The data used here have been obtained from 56 meteorological stations. The application of the technique is made into two stages. In the first stage, factor analysis alone is considered and its results in Saudi Arabia are discussed. In the second stage, the resultant factor scores are taken as an input in a cluster analysis process to obtain climatic regions. Thus the regions obtained in the second stage are a result of the integration of factor and cluster techniques. The results obtained by the technique are compared with those of some traditional methods. The factor-cluster analysis technique is found advantageous over many of those methods, as it produces richer regions and shows clear climate variations within this vast country.