MINIMUM SAMPLE-SIZE FOR SYNOPTIC WEATHER TYPE CLASSIFICATION - APPLICATION TO WINTER PERIOD DATA RECORDED ON THE CATALAN COAST (NORTHEAST SPAIN)

Characteristics of weather types obtained from a Davis and Kalkstein c lassification process can depend on a variety of factors. One of them is the number of components retained after principal component analysi s (PCA) of the original data. The classification algorithm itself and the number of elements to be classified also play important roles in t he final results. The main objective of the present paper is to descri be a methodology leading a deduction of the minimum sample size that m ust be considered in order to obtain a reliable synoptic weather type classification. Some rules related to the number of factors to be reta ined after a PCA and the optimal number of groups of our classificatio n procedure are discussed. Finally, the main features of the winter we ather types obtained from Barcelona Airport data are briefly presented .