TOWARDS A CLASSIFICATION OF TROPICAL RAINFALL STATIONS

As part of a long-term project examining short-period tropical rainfal l characteristics, a preliminary classification of stations for a wide range of localities based on such characteristics is presented. The a pproach adopted, using principal component analysis and a clustering p rocedure, functioned well and the resulting classification would not h ave been anticipated simply by using general annual and seasonal varia bles alone. Interpretation of the components allowed the important cha racteristics of each group of stations to be described. Although the s tations used did not represent every region of the tropics, the range of groups with a wide variety of characteristics suggests that they ar e indicative of conditions applicable to many areas. Although the data base was for varying periods and record lengths, it appeared to be ad equate for the purpose of the analysis.