Evaluation of land surface temperature and emissivities retrieved from MSG/SEVIRI data with MODIS land surface temperature and emissivity products

Land surface temperature (LST) and land surface emissivity (LSE) are two key parameters in global climate study. This article aims to cross-validate LST/LSE products retrieved from data of the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on board the first geostationary satellite, Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST/LSE version 5 products over the Iberian Peninsula and over Egypt and the Middle East. Besides time matching, coordinate matching is another requirement of the cross-validation. An area-weighted aggregation algorithm was used to aggregate SEVIRI and MODIS LST/LSE products into the same spatial resolution. According to the quality control (QC) criterion and the view angle, the cross-validation was completed under clear-sky conditions and within a view angle difference of less than 5° for the two instruments to prevent land surface anisotropic effects. The results showed that the SEVIRI LST/LSE products are consistent with MODIS LST/LSE products and have the same trend over the two study areas during both the daytime and the night-time. The SEVIRI LST overestimates the temperature by approximately 1.0 K during the night-time and by approximately 2.0 K during the daytime compared to MODIS products over these two study areas. The SEVIRI LSE underestimates by about 0.015 in 11 μm and by about 0.025 in 12 μm over the Iberian Peninsula. However, both LSEs agree and show a difference of less than 0.01 over Egypt and the Middle East.     

Synergistic use of the two-temperature and split-window methods for land-surface temperature retrieval

A strategy is presented with the aim of achieving an operational accuracy of 2.0 K in land-surface temperature (LST) from METEOSAT Second Generation (MSG)/Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) data. The proposed method is based on a synergistic usage of the split-window (SW) and the two-temperature method (TTM) and consists in combining the use of a priori land-surface emissivity (LSE) estimates from emissivity maps with LST estimates obtained from SW method with the endeavour of defining narrower and more reliable ranges of admissible solutions before applying TTM. The method was tested for different surface types, according to SEVIRI spatial resolution, and atmospheric conditions occurring within the MSG disc. Performance of the method was best in the case of relatively dry atmospheres (water-vapour content less than 3 g cm^?2), an important feature since in this case SW algorithms provide the worst results because of their sensitivity to uncertainties in surface emissivity. The hybrid method was also applied using real MSG/SEVIRI data and then validated with the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Terra LST/LSE Monthly Global 0.05° geographic climate modeling grid (CMG) product (MOD11C3) generated by the day/night algorithm. The LST and LSE retrievals from the hybrid-method agree well (bias and root mean square error (RMSE) of??0.2 K and 1.4 K for LST, and around 0.003–0.02 and 0.009–0.02 for LSE) with the MOD11C3 product. These figures are also in conformity with the MOD11C3 performance at a semi-desert where LST (LSE) values is 1–1.7 K (0.017) higher (less) than the ground-based measurements.     

A comparison between atmospheric water vapour content retrieval methods using MSG2-SEVIRI thermal-IR data

Atmospheric water vapour content (WVC) is a vital parameter in the study of climate change. Various methods have been developed to derive atmospheric WVC from remotely sensed data. In this study, we compared three methods for retrieving atmospheric WVC from thermal infrared data in the Meteosat Second Generation-SEVIRI channels 9 (10.8 μm) and 10 (12.0 ?m). The three methods are (1) the split-window covariance-variance ratio method using a spatial moving window (method 1); (2) the split-window covariance-variance ratio method using a temporal moving window (method 2); and (3) the varying surface temperature method using split-window channel data (method 3). The derived WVC using these three methods was compared to two WVC data sets from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis data and the MODIS WVC product. Compared with these two data sets, the derived WVC using method 1 performed proved optimal. The valid pixels using methods 1 and 2 are greater than those using method 3. Furthermore, method 2 can be used to retrieve WVC over pixels where method 1 is invalid.     

Developed split window method to retrieve land surface temperature from HYTES thermal hyperspectral images using genetic algorithm

This article aims to establish a new method to retrieve land surface temperature (LST) from hyperspectral thermal emission spectrometer (HYTES) data with split window (SW) algorithm. First, the optimal bands of HYTES sensor were selected with the genetic algorithm and then were used in the SW algorithm. In the SW algorithm, its coefficients were obtained based on several subranges of atmospheric column water vapours (CWVs) and view zenith angle (VZA) under various land surface conditions, in order to remove the atmospheric effect and improve the retrieval accuracy. Results showed that the root-mean-square error (RMSE) varies for different CWV and VZA, and with the increasing CWV and VZA, the RMSE value also increases. The emissivity, CWV, and VZA were also obtained for pixels. The sensitive analysis of LST retrieval to instrument noise and uncertainty of pixel emissivity and water vapour demonstrated the good performance of the proposed algorithm. Finally, the new algorithm was applied to HYTES sensor data, and the LST was validated using LST product of HYTES sensor obtained by NASA. The results showed that the RMSE of the LST retrieval with the proposed algorithm and the LST product of sensor for data 1 and data 2 is 1.3 K and 1.6 K, respectively.     

Retrieval of atmospheric and land surface parameters from satellite-based thermal infrared hyperspectral data using a neural network technique

Land surface temperature (LST), land surface emissivity (LSE), and atmospheric profiles are of great importance in many applications. Radiances observed by satellites depend not only on land surface parameters (LST and LSE) but also on atmospheric conditions, and it is difficult to retrieve these parameters simultaneously from multispectral measurements with high accuracies. This work aims to establish a neural network (NN) to retrieve atmospheric profiles, LST, and LSE simultaneously from hyperspectral thermal infrared data suitable for various air mass types and surface conditions. The distributions of surface materials, LST, and atmospheric profiles were elaborated carefully to generate the simulated data. The simulated at-sensor radiances were divided into two sub-ranges in the spectral domain: one in the atmospheric window and the other in the water absorption band. Subsequently, the radiances were transformed in the eigen-domain in each sub-range, and then the transformed coefficients were used as the inputs for the network. Similarly, the atmospheric profiles, LST, and LSE were used as outputs after the eigen-domain transformation. The validation of the NN using the simulated data indicated that the root mean square error (RMSE) of LST is approximately 1.6 K, and the RMSE of the temperature profiles is approximately 2 K in the troposphere. Meanwhile, the RMSE of total water content is approximately 0.3 g cm^?2, and that of LSE is less than 0.01 in the spectral interval where the wave number is less than 1000 cm^?1. Two experiments using actual thermal hyperspectral satellite data were carried out to further validate the proposed NN. All of these studies showed that the proposed NN is capable of retrieving atmospheric and land surface parameters with compromised accuracies. Because of its simplicity, the proposed NN can be used to yield preliminary results employed as first estimates for physics-based retrieval models.     

Near-real time retrievals of land surface temperature within the MODIS Rapid Response System

The MODIS Rapid Response (RR) System was developed to meet the near real time needs of the applications community. Generally, its products are available online within hours of the satellite overpass. We recently adapted the standard MODIS land surface temperature (LST) split-window algorithm for use in the RR System. To minimize latency, we eliminated the algorithm's dependency on upstream MODIS products. For example, although the standard MODIS LST requires prior retrieval of air temperature and water vapor from the MODIS scene, the RR LST employs a climatological database of atmospheric values based on a 25-year record of NOAA TOVS observations. The standard and RR algorithms also differ in upstream processing, surface emissivity determination, and use of a cloud mask (RR product does not contain one). Comparison of the MODIS RR and standard LST products suggests that biases are generally less than 0.1 K, and root-mean-square differences are less than 1 K despite the presence of some larger outliers. Initial validation with field data suggests the absolute uncertainty of the RR product is below 1 K. The MODIS RR land surface temperature algorithm is a stand-alone computer code. It has no dependencies on external products or toolkits, and is suitable for Direct Broadcast and other processing systems.     

Land surface temperature retrieval from MSG1-SEVIRI data

We have developed a physical-based split-window Land Surface Temperature (LST) algorithm for retrieving the surface temperature from SEVIRI/MSG1 (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager/Meteosat Second Generation1) data in two thermal infrared bands (IR 10.8 and IR 12.0). The proposed algorithm takes into account the SEVIRI angular dependence. The numerical values of the split-window coefficients have been obtained from a statistical regression method, using synthetic data. The look-up tables for atmospheric transmission, path radiance, and downward thermal irradiance are calculated with the MODTRAN3 code. The new LST algorithm has been tested with simulated SEVIRI/MSG1 data over a wide range of atmospheric and surface conditions. Comprehensive sensitivity and error analyses have been undertaken to evaluate the performance of the proposed LST algorithm and its dependence on surface properties, the ranges of atmospheric conditions and surface temperatures, and on the noise-equivalent temperature difference. The results show that the algorithm is capable of producing LST with a standard deviation lower than 1.5 K for viewing zenith angles lower than 50°. Since MSG1 is becoming fully operational in 2004, the proposed algorithm will allow MSG1 users to obtain surface temperatures immediately.     

Cross‐calibration of MSG1‐SEVIRI infrared channels with Terra‐MODIS channels

This paper addresses the cross‐calibration of the infrared channels 4 (3.9 µm), 9 (10.8 µm) and 10 (12.0 µm) of the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra‐Red Imager (SEVIRI) onboard the Meteosat Second Generation 1 (MSG1) satellite with the channels of the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra. The cross‐calibrations, including the Ray‐Matching (RM) method and the Radiative Transfer Modelling (RTM) method, were developed and implemented over a tropical area using SEVIRI and MODIS measurements of July 2005 and July 2006 with absolute view zenith angle differences (|ΔVZA|)<0.5°, absolute view azimuth angle differences (|ΔVAA|)<0.5° and absolute time differences (|ΔTime|)<10 min. The results obtained by the RM and RTM methods revealed calibration discrepancies between the two sensors. The results obtained by the RM method were consistent with previously published results. The results obtained by the RTM method were consistent with the results obtained by the RM method if the temperature differences caused by the spectral differences between the two sensors were taken into account. From the cross‐calibration results obtained by the two methods, the use of the results obtained by the RTM method to recalibrate the SEVIRI data is recommended. The recalibrations remove the overestimation of the Land Surface Temperature (LST) retrieved from the SEVIRI data by a split‐window method.     

Land Surface Temperature Retrieval from Landsat-8 Data with the Generalized Split Window Algorithm

This work addresses the LST retrieval from Landsat\|8 data with the generalized split\|window algorithm.Firstly,radiative transfer modeling experiment is conducted using MODTRAN 4.0,fed with SeeBor V5 atmospheric profile database to build a data set of LST related to brightness temperatures in the bands 10 and 11 of Thermal Infrared Sensor(TIRS) on Landsat-8,Land Surface Emissivities(LSEs),viewing zenith angle and Total Precipitable Water(TPW).Secondly,based on the modeling data set,the unknown coefficients of the generalized split-window algorithm are obtained,and the algorithm sensitivity is analyzed.Then,LSTs are derived from the inter-calibrated and clear sky Landsat\|8 data with the generalized split\|window algorithm,in which LSEs are estimated from Landsat\|8 Operational Land Imager(OLI) data,and TPWs are extracted from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) reanalysis data.Finally,the results are validated with the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) LST/LSE product(MOD11_L2 V5).The results show that the generalized split window algorithm developed in this work can accurately retrieve LST from the Landsat\|8 data,and the error is mainly come from the uncertainty of LSEs and TPW.Before and after correction of LSEs and TPW,the LST errors in this work are,respectively,-0.64 ±0.81 K and 0.10±0.68 K against the MOD11_L2 V5 product.     

Evaluation of 10 year AQUA/MODIS land surface temperature with SURFRAD observations

As the 10 year Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Land Surface Temperature MODIS LST becomes available, it is significant to perform a comprehensive evaluation on the long-term product before downstream users use it for climate studies and atmospheric models. In this study, a validation is carried out using observations from the US Surface Radiation budget (SURFRAD) network. Strict quality control removes cloud-contaminated samples from MODIS LST collection and decreases noise information from SURFRAD measurements, thereby making the validation more persuasive. With analysis on 19,735 valid samples, Aqua/MODIS LST from a split-window algorithm shows retrieval errors from –14 K to 17 K with a bias of –0.93 K, an RMSE of 2.65 K, and a standard deviation of 2.48 K. The errors also show strong seasonal signals. With correlation tests between LST errors and several other factors, it is disclosed that LST retrieval errors mainly come from atmospheric effects and surface emissivity uncertainties, which are closely related to relative air humidity, absolute air humidity, sensor zenith angle, wind speed, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and soil moisture. In addition, the impacts from these factors may not be independent. These impact factors suggest a deficiency of the split-window algorithm in dealing with atmospheric and surface complexity and variety.     

Investigating the effects of soil moisture on thermal infrared land surface temperature and emissivity using satellite retrievals and laboratory measurements

This study investigates the effects of soil moisture (SM) on thermal infrared (TIR) land surface emissivity (LSE) using field- and satellite-measurements. Laboratory measurements were used to simulate the effects of rainfall and subsequent surface evaporation on the LSE for two different sand types. The results showed that the LSE returned to the dry equilibrium state within an hour after initial wetting, and during the drying process the SM changes were uncorrelated with changes in LSE. Satellite retrievals of LSE from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were examined for an anomalous rainfall event over the Namib Desert in Namibia during April, 2006. The results showed that increases in Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) derived soil moisture and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall estimates corresponded closely with LSE increases of between 0.08-0.3 at 8.6 µm and up to 0.03 at 11 µm for MODIS v4 and AIRS products. This dependence was lost in the more recent MODIS v5 product which artificially removed the correlation due to a stronger coupling with the split-window algorithm, and is lost in any algorithms that force the LSE to a pre-determined constant as in split-window type algorithms like those planned for use with the NPOESS Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Good agreement was found between MODIS land surface temperatures (LSTs) derived from the Temperature Emissivity Separation (TES) and day/night v4 algorithm (MOD11B1 v4), while the split-window dependent products (MOD11B1 v5 and MOD11A1) had cooler mean temperatures on the order of 1-2 K over the Namib Desert for the month of April 2006.     

MODIS数据地表温度反演劈窗算法比较

针对MODIS数据,分析比较了QIN和Wan-Dozier两种劈窗算法地表温度(LST)反演精度和误差分布。首先利用辐射传输模型MODTRAN4.0,结合TIGR大气廓线数据,评价两种算法绝对精度,然后基于误差传递理论分析评价二者的总精度,最后对两种算法的LST反演结果进行比较。研究表明针对所有廓线数据,两种算法绝对精度相差不大,但Wan-Dozier算法绝对精度受地表温度和水汽含量变化的影响程度要大于QIN算法;两种算法总精度相差不大,且主要误差源均为算法绝对精度和地表比辐射率精度,QIN算法反演结果对地表比辐射率的敏感性要略高于Wan-Dozier算法;两种算法得到研究区LST分布情况基本一致,均可表现空间LST分布差异,其中水体和裸土的LST反演结果差异较大,城镇和植被平均温度差异在0.5 K以内。     

基于静止气象卫星数据的地表温度遥感估算

基于分裂窗算法和地表温度日周期变化模型,探讨了利用多时相热红外遥感数据反演地表温度的方法。首先,利用分裂窗算法及地表温度日周期变化形式,推导了多时相遥感数据反演地表温度的方法。其次,利用辐射传输模型(MODTRAN),以2006年夏季在禹城观测的3 d地表温度、气温及大气水汽数据做为输入参数、变化观测角及比辐射率,模拟了一日多个时刻与风云二号(F-2D)波谱响应函数一致的亮温数据,基于此,模拟数据库对所提算法进行了检验。最后,利用2010年9月30日FY-2D多时相热红外数据对新疆区域地表温度进行了反演,并与相应时刻的MODIS地表温度产品进行了比较。结果表明：利用模拟遥感数据反演地表温度,模拟值与估算值的相关系数达0.9,均方根误差在1.5 K以内;利用在轨FY-2D热红外数据反演得到的地表温度与MODIS温度产品趋势基本一致,两者的相关性达到了0.5,均方根误差为4.4 K。需要说明的是,此方法仅满足于晴朗无云的条件。     

Accuracy assessment of land surface temperature retrievals from MSG2-SEVIRI data

The accuracy of the Land Surface Temperature (LST) product generated operationally by the EUMETSAT Land Surface Analysis Satellite Applications Facility (LSA SAF) from the data registered by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on board the geostationary METEOSAT Second Generation 2 (MSG2, Meteosat 9) satellite was assessed on two test sites in Eastern Spain: a homogeneous, fully vegetated rice field and a high-plain, homogeneous area of shrubland. The LSA SAF LSTs were compared with ground LST measurements in the conventional temperature-based (T-based) method. We also validated the LSA SAF LST product by using an alternative radiance-based (R-based) method, with ground LSTs calculated from MSG-SEVIRI channel 9 brightness temperatures (at 10.8 μm) through radiative transfer simulations using atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles together with surface emissivity data. Two lakes were also used for validation with the R-based method. Although the LSA SAF LST algorithm works mostly within the uncertainty expectation of ± 2 K, both validation methods showed significant biases for the LSA SAF LST product, up to 1.5 K in some cases. These biases, with the LSA SAF LST product overestimating reference values, were also observed in previous studies. Nevertheless, the present work points out that the biases are related to the land surface emissivities used in the operational generation of the product. The use of more appropriate emissivity values for the test sites in the LSA SAF LST algorithm led to better results by decreasing the biases by 0.7 K for the shrubland validation site. Furthermore, we proposed and checked an alternative algorithm: a quadratic split-window equation, based on a physical split-window model that has been widely proved for other sensors, with angular-dependent coefficients suitable for the MSG coverage area. The T-based validation results for this algorithm showed LST uncertainties (robust root-mean-squared-errors) from 0.2 K to 0.5 K lower than for the LSA SAF LST algorithm after the emissivity replacement. Nevertheless, the proposed algorithm accuracies were significantly better than those obtained for the current LSA SAF LST product, with an average accuracy difference of 0.6 K.     

An improved NDVI-based threshold method for estimating land surface emissivity using MODIS satellite data

This work estimated the land surface emissivities (LSEs) for MODIS thermal infrared channels 29 (8.4–8.7 μm), 31 (10.78–11.28 μm), and 32 (11.77–12.27 μm) using an improved normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)-based threshold method. The channel LSEs are expressed as functions of atmospherically corrected reflectance from the MODIS visible and near-infrared channels with wavelengths ranging from 0.4 to 2.2 μm for bare soil. To retain the angular information, the vegetation LSEs were explicitly expressed in the NDVI function. The results exhibited a root mean square error (RMSE) among the estimated LSEs using the improved method, and those calculated using spectral data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) are below 0.01 for channels 31 and 32. The MODIS land surface temperature/emissivity (LST/E) products, MOD11_L2 with LSE derived via the classification-based method with 1 km resolution and MOD11C1 with LSE retrieved via the day/night LST retrieval method at 0.05° resolution, were used to validate the proposed method. The resultant variances and entropies for the LSEs estimated using the proposed method were larger than those extracted from MOD11_L2, which indicates that the proposed method better described the spectral variation for different land covers. In addition, comparing the estimated LSEs to those from MOD11C1 yielded RMSEs of approximately 0.02 for the three channels; however, more than 70% of pixels exhibited LSE differences within 0.01 for channels 31 and 32, which indicates that the proposed method feasibly depicts LSE variation for different land covers.     

Derivation of land surface temperatures from MODIS data using the general split‐window technique

Fast Atmospheric Signature Code (FASCODE), a line‐by‐line radiative transfer programme, was used to simulate Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at wavelengths 11.03 and 12.02 µm to ascertain how accurately the land surface temperature (LST) can be inferred, by the split‐window technique (SWT), for a wide range of atmospheric and terrestrial conditions. The approach starts from the Ulivieri algorithm, originally applied to Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) channels 4 and 5. This algorithm proved to be very accurate compared to several others and takes into account the atmospheric effects, in particular the water vapour column (WVC) amount and a non‐unitary surface emissivity. Extended simulations allowed the determination of new coefficients of this algorithm appropriate to MODIS bands 31 and 32, using different atmospheric conditions. The algorithm was also improved by removing some of the hypothesis on which its original expression was based. This led to the addition of a new corrective term that took into account the interdependence between water vapour and non‐unitary emissivity values and their effects on the retrieved surface temperature. The LST products were validated within 1 K with in situ LSTs in 11 cases.     

Optimized split-window coefficients for deriving surface temperatures from inland water bodies

Large inland water bodies constituting lakes, reservoirs and inland-seas are excellent proxy indicators for climate change. Using thermal infrared satellite data, a recent study found that a global set of inland water bodies showed significant warming in seasonal nighttime Lake Surface Water Temperatures (LSWTs) between 1985 and 2009. Split-window land surface temperature (LST) retrievals are typically tuned for a broad range of land surface emissivities and global atmospheric conditions, and are not optimized for inland water body surfaces, whereas split-window sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) are only tuned for a single emissivity (water), but over ocean atmospheres. Over inland water bodies, these two approaches can lead to region dependent errors in LSWTs, spurious trends, and inconsistencies between sensors in the long-term temperature record of inland water bodies. To address this issue, the primary goal of this paper was to develop a methodology for deriving a set of optimized split-window coefficients, individually tuned for the regional atmospheric conditions of 169 globally distributed, saline and freshwater inland water bodies from multiple satellite sensors including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua; Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) including ATSR-1, ATSR-2, AATSR; and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR-3). The new Inland Water-body Surface Temperature (IWbST) v1.0 algorithm was applied to Terra MODIS and Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) data and validated with in situ water temperature data from sites with widely contrasting atmospheric conditions: Lake Tahoe in California/Nevada, a high-elevation cool and dry site, and the Salton Sea in California, a low-elevation warm and humid site. Analysis showed improved accuracy in LSWTs in terms of bias and RMSE when compared to the standard MODIS LST and AATSR SST products. For example, the IWbST RMSE at Salton Sea was reduced by 0.4 K when compared to the operational MODIS product. For the AATSR data, the IWbST RMSE was reduced by 0.36 K at Tahoe and 0.29 K at Salton Sea when compared to results obtained using the operational AATSR split-window coefficients. The IWbST improvements are significant in relation to the current accuracy of water temperature retrievals from space (< 0.5 K), and will enable the derivation of long-term, accurate LSWTs consistently across multiple sensors for climate studies.     

Split‐window algorithm for land surface temperature estimation from MSG1‐SEVIRI data

This letter addresses the land surface temperature (LST) estimation from the data acquired by the spinning enhanced visible and infra‐red imager (SEVIRI) on board the first geostationary satellite meteosat second generation (MSG1) using the generalized split‐window algorithm proposed by Wan and Dozier (1996 Wan, Z. and Dozier, J. 1996. A generalized split‐window algorithm for retrieving land‐surface temperature from space.. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 34: 892–905. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The generalized split‐window algorithm was developed for eight view zenith angles (VZAs) by dividing the LST, the average emissivity (ε) and the column water vapour (W) into several sub‐ranges to improve the LST estimating accuracy. The simulated results show that the root mean square errors (RMSEs) increase with VZAs and W, and they are less than 1.0 K for all sub‐ranges with the VZA less than 45°, or for the sub‐ranges with VZA less than 60° and W less than 3.5 cm. The land surface emissivities (LSEs) and W used in the generalized split‐window algorithm were estimated from MSG1‐SEVIRI data by the method developed by us in previous studies. The results at the four specific locations show that the LSEs were well derived, and the LSTs estimated from MSG1‐SEVIRI data are basically consistent with the ones extracted from MODIS/Terra LST products.     

A three-channel algorithm for retrieving night-time land surface temperature from MODIS data under thin cirrus clouds

Thin cirrus clouds are dominated by non-spherical ice crystals with an effective emissivity of less than 0.5. Until now, the influences of clouds were not commonly considered in the development of algorithms for retrieving land-surface temperature (LST). However, numerical simulations showed that the influence of thin cirrus clouds could lead to a maximum LST retrieval error of more than 14 K at night if the cirrus optical depth (COD) at 12 μm was equal to 0.7 (cirrus emissivity equivalent to 0.5). To obtain an accurate estimate of the LST under thin cirrus using satellite infrared data, a nonlinear three-channel LST retrieval algorithm was proposed based on a widely used two-channel algorithm for clear-sky conditions. The variations in the cloud top height, COD, and effective radius of cirrus clouds were considered in this three-channel LST retrieval algorithm. Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) channels 20, 31, and 32 (centred at 3.8, 11.0, and 12.0 μm, respectively) and the corresponding land surface emissivities (LSEs), the simulated data showed that this algorithm could obtain LSTs with root mean square errors (RMSEs) of less than 2.8 K when the COD at 12 μm is less than 0.7 and the viewing zenith angle (VZA) is less than 60°. In addition, a sensitivity analysis of the proposed algorithm showed that the total LST errors, including errors from the uncertainties in input parameters and algorithm error, were nearly the same as the algorithm error itself. Some lake surface water temperatures measured in Lake Superior and Lake Erie were used to test the performance of the proposed LST retrieval algorithm. The results showed that the proposed nonlinear three-channel algorithm could be used for estimating LST under thin cirrus with an RMSE of less than 2.8 K.