Near-surface temperature inversion during summer at Summit, Greenland, and its relation to MODIS-derived surface temperatures

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: A. C. Adolph, M. R. Albert, D. K. Hall
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2018
• Subjects: Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Geology; QE1-996.5; Arctic; Greenland; Ice Sheet; The Cryosphere; ice covered areas
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-907-2018; https://doaj.org/article/0f685552390f423aa0c62e0c461a097e

As rapid warming of the Arctic occurs, it is imperative that climate indicators such as temperature be monitored over large areas to understand and predict the effects of climate changes. Temperatures are traditionally tracked using in situ 2 m air temperatures and can also be assessed using remote sensing techniques. Remote sensing is especially valuable over the Greenland Ice Sheet, where few ground-based air temperature measurements exist. Because of the presence of surface-based temperature inversions in ice-covered areas, differences between 2 m air temperature and the temperature of the actual snow surface (referred to as <q>skin</q> temperature) can be significant and are particularly relevant when considering validation and application of remote sensing temperature data. We present results from a field campaign extending from 8 June to 18 July 2015, near Summit Station in Greenland, to study surface temperature using the following measurements: skin temperature measured by an infrared (IR) sensor, 2 m air temperature measured by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorological station, and a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface temperature product. Our data indicate that 2 m air temperature is often significantly higher than snow skin temperature measured in situ, and this finding may account for apparent biases in previous studies of MODIS products that used 2 m air temperature for validation. This inversion is present during our study period when incoming solar radiation and wind speed are both low. As compared to our in situ IR skin temperature measurements, after additional cloud masking, the MOD/MYD11 Collection 6 surface temperature standard product has an RMSE of 1.0 °C and a mean bias of −0.4 °C, spanning a range of temperatures from −35 to −5 °C (RMSE = 1.6 °C and mean bias = −0.7 °C prior to cloud masking). For our study area and time series, MODIS surface temperature products agree with skin surface temperatures better than previous ...