Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment
Spatially continuous satellite infrared temperature measurements are essential for understanding the consequences and drivers of change, at local and regional scales, especially in northern and alpine environments dominated by a complex cryosphere where in situ observations are scarce. We describe t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:156425f50818463d97ff750e7c9dcf38 2023-05-15T15:15:58+02:00 Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment Scott N. Williamson David S. Hik John A. Gamon Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh Gwenn E. Flowers 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6020946 https://doaj.org/article/156425f50818463d97ff750e7c9dcf38 EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/6/2/946 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs6020946 https://doaj.org/article/156425f50818463d97ff750e7c9dcf38 Remote Sensing, Vol 6, Iss 2, Pp 946-963 (2014) mean daily surface temperature land surface temperature air temperature MODIS meteorological station tundra Yukon Canada Science Q article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6020946 2022-12-31T13:01:12Z Spatially continuous satellite infrared temperature measurements are essential for understanding the consequences and drivers of change, at local and regional scales, especially in northern and alpine environments dominated by a complex cryosphere where in situ observations are scarce. We describe two methods for producing daily temperature fields using MODIS “clear-sky” day-time Land Surface Temperatures (LST). The Interpolated Curve Mean Daily Surface Temperature (ICM) method, interpolates single daytime Terra LST values to daily means using the coincident diurnal air temperature curves. The second method calculates daily mean LST from daily maximum and minimum LST (MMM) values from MODIS Aqua and Terra. These ICM and MMM models were compared to daily mean air temperatures recorded between April and October at seven locations in southwest Yukon, Canada, covering characteristic alpine land cover types (tundra, barren, glacier) at elevations between 1,408 m and 2,319 m. Both methods for producing mean daily surface temperatures have advantages and disadvantages. ICM signals are strongly correlated with air temperature (R2 = 0.72 to 0.86), but have relatively large variability (RMSE = 4.09 to 4.90 K), while MMM values had a stronger correlation to air temperature (R2 = 0.90) and smaller variability (RMSE = 2.67 K). Finally, when comparing 8-day LST averages, aggregated from the MMM method, to air temperature, we found a high correlation (R2 = 0.84) with less variability (RMSE = 1.54 K). Where the trend was less steep and the y-intercept increased by 1.6 °C compared to the daily correlations. This effect is likely a consequence of LST temperature averages being differentially affected by cloud cover over warm and cold surfaces. We conclude that satellite infrared skin temperature (e.g., MODIS LST), which is often aggregated into multi-day composites to mitigate data reductions caused by cloud cover, changes in its relationship to air temperature depending on the period of aggregation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic glacier* Tundra Yukon Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Canada The ''Y'' ENVELOPE(-112.453,-112.453,57.591,57.591) Yukon Remote Sensing 6 2 946 963 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
mean daily surface temperature land surface temperature air temperature MODIS meteorological station tundra Yukon Canada Science Q |
spellingShingle |
mean daily surface temperature land surface temperature air temperature MODIS meteorological station tundra Yukon Canada Science Q Scott N. Williamson David S. Hik John A. Gamon Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh Gwenn E. Flowers Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment |
topic_facet |
mean daily surface temperature land surface temperature air temperature MODIS meteorological station tundra Yukon Canada Science Q |
description |
Spatially continuous satellite infrared temperature measurements are essential for understanding the consequences and drivers of change, at local and regional scales, especially in northern and alpine environments dominated by a complex cryosphere where in situ observations are scarce. We describe two methods for producing daily temperature fields using MODIS “clear-sky” day-time Land Surface Temperatures (LST). The Interpolated Curve Mean Daily Surface Temperature (ICM) method, interpolates single daytime Terra LST values to daily means using the coincident diurnal air temperature curves. The second method calculates daily mean LST from daily maximum and minimum LST (MMM) values from MODIS Aqua and Terra. These ICM and MMM models were compared to daily mean air temperatures recorded between April and October at seven locations in southwest Yukon, Canada, covering characteristic alpine land cover types (tundra, barren, glacier) at elevations between 1,408 m and 2,319 m. Both methods for producing mean daily surface temperatures have advantages and disadvantages. ICM signals are strongly correlated with air temperature (R2 = 0.72 to 0.86), but have relatively large variability (RMSE = 4.09 to 4.90 K), while MMM values had a stronger correlation to air temperature (R2 = 0.90) and smaller variability (RMSE = 2.67 K). Finally, when comparing 8-day LST averages, aggregated from the MMM method, to air temperature, we found a high correlation (R2 = 0.84) with less variability (RMSE = 1.54 K). Where the trend was less steep and the y-intercept increased by 1.6 °C compared to the daily correlations. This effect is likely a consequence of LST temperature averages being differentially affected by cloud cover over warm and cold surfaces. We conclude that satellite infrared skin temperature (e.g., MODIS LST), which is often aggregated into multi-day composites to mitigate data reductions caused by cloud cover, changes in its relationship to air temperature depending on the period of aggregation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Scott N. Williamson David S. Hik John A. Gamon Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh Gwenn E. Flowers |
author_facet |
Scott N. Williamson David S. Hik John A. Gamon Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh Gwenn E. Flowers |
author_sort |
Scott N. Williamson |
title |
Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment |
title_short |
Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment |
title_full |
Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment |
title_fullStr |
Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating Temperature Fields from MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Air Temperature Observations in a Sub-Arctic Alpine Environment |
title_sort |
estimating temperature fields from modis land surface temperature and air temperature observations in a sub-arctic alpine environment |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6020946 https://doaj.org/article/156425f50818463d97ff750e7c9dcf38 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-112.453,-112.453,57.591,57.591) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada The ''Y'' Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada The ''Y'' Yukon |
genre |
Arctic glacier* Tundra Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier* Tundra Yukon |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 6, Iss 2, Pp 946-963 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/6/2/946 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs6020946 https://doaj.org/article/156425f50818463d97ff750e7c9dcf38 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6020946 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
946 |
op_container_end_page |
963 |
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1766346287767093248 |