Spatiotemporal Cluster Analysis of Gridded Temperature Data – A Comparison Between K-means and MiSTIC
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The Earth is a system of numerous interconnected spheres, such as the climate. Climate's global and regional influence requires understanding its evolution in space and time to improve knowledge and forecasts. Analyzing and studying decades of climate data is a data mining challenge. Cluster analysis minimizes data volumes and analyzes behavior by cluster. Understanding invariant behavior is as crucial as understanding variable behavior. Gridded data from two sources: Grided IMD data and CMIP5 HadCM3 decadal experiments, are studied using K-Means and MiSTIC clustering techniques to explore spatiotemporal clustering of maximum and minimum temperatures. The boundaries of k-means clustering correspond with topography. The Indian subcontinent's physiographic, climatic, and topographical characteristics affect MiSTIC's core areas. Both techniques yield overlapping clusters. The datasets' MiSTIC cluster counts varied significantly. The impact of data on this technique is shown in how the datasets group the Himalayas.
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