Publication Date:
2017-09-08
Description:
The relationship between satellite land surface temperature (LST) and ground-based observations of 2 m air temperature (T2m) is characterized in space and time using 〉17 years of data. The analysis uses a new monthly LST climate data record (CDR) based on the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer series, which has been produced within the European Space Agency GlobTemperature project (http://www.globtemperature.info/). Global LST-T2m differences are analyzed with respect to location, land cover, vegetation fraction, and elevation, all of which are found to be important influencing factors. LSTnight (~10 P.M. local solar time, clear-sky only) is found to be closely coupled with minimum T2m (Tmin, all-sky) and the two temperatures generally consistent to within ±5°C (global median LSTnight-Tmin = 1.8°C, interquartile range = 3.8°C). The LSTday (~10 A.M. local solar time, clear-sky only)-maximum T2m (Tmax, all-sky) variability is higher (global median LSTday-Tmax = −0.1°C, interquartile range = 8.1°C) because LST is strongly influenced by insolation and surface regime. Correlations for both temperature pairs are typically 〉0.9 outside of the tropics. The monthly global and regional anomaly time series of LST and T2m—which are completely independent data sets—compare remarkably well. The correlation between the data sets is 0.9 for the globe with 90% of the CDR anomalies falling within the T2m 95% confidence limits. The results presented in this study present a justification for increasing use of satellite LST data in climate and weather science, both as an independent variable, and to augment T2m data acquired at meteorological stations. ©2017 American Geophysical Union and Crown copyright. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.
Print ISSN:
2169-897X
Electronic ISSN:
2169-8996
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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