Climatic zonation of Egypt based on high-resolution dataset using image clustering technique

Abstract

Egypt, a predominantly arid and hyper-arid country, is one of the environmentally most fragile regions of the world. The country became a hot spot for climatic extremes and aridity change in the global warming context. The unavailability of a detailed and reliable climate zonation map is a major hindrance to climatic studies in Egypt. This study attempted to generate a high-resolution climate zone map of Egypt based on a novel image analysis technique. For this purpose, a colored image representing Egypt's composite climatology was developed using three high-resolution (1-km) climate variables: rainfall, maximum temperature and minimum temperature during 1979–2013. A spherical evolution algorithm was used to classify the image into different climate zones. Subsequently, the climate zones representing similar climate distribution were merged to generate the climate map of Egypt. The study revealed that Egypt’s distinguishable climate zones could be recognized when the land area was classified into nine zones using the image analysis technique. The statistical analysis of climate variables of each zone revealed similar climatology only in two pairs of zones. The merging of similar climate zones yielded seven climate zones having distinct climate characteristics. The validation of climate zonation using various statistical tests revealed the robustness of the proposed method in classifying climate. The climate zone map generated in the study can be used as a reference for climate change analysis in Egypt.