Automatic generation of emissivity maps on a European scale

The remote sensing measurement of the land surface temperature from satellites provides an overview of this magnitude on a continuous and regular basis. The study of its evolution in time and space is a critical factor in many scientific fields such as weather forecasting, detection of forest fires, climate change, and so on. The main problem of making this measurement from satellite data is the need to correct the effects of the atmosphere and the surface emissivity. In this work, these corrections have been made using a split-window algorithm. The aim was to define an enhanced vegetation cover method and develop a system that used it, in order to automatically generate maps of land surfac…

Significance of the remotely sensed thermal infrared measurements obtained over a citrus orchard

Abstract In this work we have developed a theoretical model that helps the interpretation of the remotely sensed thermal infrared measurements carried out over citrus orchards. A detailed analysis of the different factors which take part in the definition of the effective emissivity and temperature (observation height, viewing angle, type of soil, dimensions and separation between orange trees) is made. The model was validated under vertical observation in a citrus orchard during seven nights. In this situation we have determined that the model performs to an accuracy of about 1%.

Thermal infrared radiance model for interpreting the directional radiometric temperature of a vegetative surface

Abstract In this work we have proposed a two-dimensional radiance model that serves for interpreting the directional remotely-sensed thermal infrared data obtained over a vegetative surface when the effects of the shadows are minimal. The model was validated for different view angles from the measurements made with a radiometer placed on board a helicopter in two different citrus regions. And the root-mean-square deviation between the model predictions and the sensor measurements was 0.3°C.

A simple model to estimate the daily value of the regional maximum evapotranspiration from satellite temperature and albedo images

Abstract We have tried an adaptation of the radiation model proposed by FAO, applicable in any area, for the estimation of the regional maximum evapotranspiration, ET, from temperature and albedo images obtained from a satellite. This model is based on the relationships ETm = k cETo ETo = A + BR g + CR g Ta max where k c is the crop coefficient, ETo is the maximum evapotranspiration of the reference crop (green grass), Rg is the global radiation obtained from satellite albedo images, T a max is the maximum temperature of the air obtained from the near-midday satellite temperature and A, B and C are the empirical coefficients characteristic of each zone calculated for different intervals of …

Analysis of ASTER Emissivity Product Over an Arid Area in Southern New Mexico, USA

The accuracy of thermal infrared emissivities derived from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectance radiometer (ASTER) was assessed in an arid area in southern New Mexico, which includes the White Sands National Monument (WSNM) during 2006-2008. ASTER emissivities retrieved by the temperature and emissivity separation (TES) algorithm were directly compared with laboratory measurements of samples from WSNM. Good agreement was found for the high spectral contrast of gypsum and for the low spectral contrast of water bodies. Furthermore, the day/night consistency of ASTER emissivities was checked, and day/night emissivity differences lower than ±0.013 were observed. However, unexpec…

Estudio climático del exponente “n” de las curvas IDF: aplicación para la Península Ibérica

El análisis de las precipitaciones máximas suele llevarse a cabo mediante curvas IDF (Intensidad-Duración-Frecuencia), que a su vez pueden expresarse como curvas IMM (Intensidades Medias Máximas). En este trabajo, hemos desarrollado un índice “n”, definido a partir del exponente que se obtiene de ajustar las curvas climáticas IDF a las curvas IMM. Dicho índice proporciona información sobre el modo en que se alcanzan las precipitaciones máximas en una determinada zona clim´atica, atendiendo a la distribuci´on temporal relativa de las intensidades m´aximas. A partir del an´alisis clim´atico del ´ındice “n”, en la Pen´ınsula Ib´erica se pueden distinguir grandes zonas caracterizadas por m´axim…

Multiple imputation of rainfall missing data in the Iberian Mediterranean context

Abstract Given the increasing need for complete rainfall data networks, in recent years have been proposed diverse methods for filling gaps in observed precipitation series, progressively more advanced that traditional approaches to overcome the problem. The present study has consisted in validate 10 methods (6 linear, 2 non-linear and 2 hybrid) that allow multiple imputation, i.e., fill at the same time missing data of multiple incomplete series in a dense network of neighboring stations. These were applied for daily and monthly rainfall in two sectors in the Jucar River Basin Authority (east Iberian Peninsula), which is characterized by a high spatial irregularity and difficulty of rainfa…

A multi-temporal study of chlorophyll-a concentration in the Albufera lagoon of Valencia, Spain, using Thematic Mapper data

Abstract A multi-temporal study of chlorophyll-a concentration, has been made by means of Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) band 1 (0·45-0·52μm) in the Albufera of Valencia, a hypertrophic lagoon of shallow depth. The relationship between this parameter and satellite data was set up from in situ measurements and concurrent satellite data obtained in a campaign from 22 July 1985. This relation has been applied to images of different dates by using a simple procedure of correction, which is based on the use of selected surfaces whose ground reflectance is assumed to be constant with time. Good results were obtained and chlorophyll-a concentrations have been determined with an error of 20 per cen…

Temperature and emissivity separation from ASTER data for low spectral contrast surfaces

Abstract The performance of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) thermal infrared (TIR) data product algorithms was evaluated for low spectral contrast surfaces (such as vegetation and water) in a test site close to Valencia, Spain. Concurrent ground measurements of surface temperature, emissivity, and atmospheric radiosonde profiles were collected at the test site, which is a thermally homogeneous area of rice crops with nearly full vegetation cover in summer. Using the ground data and the local radiosonde profiles, at-sensor radiances were simulated for the ASTER TIR channels and compared with L1B data (calibrated at-sensor radiances) showing discrepancies up…

Theoretical split-window algorithms for determining the actual surface temperature

Two split-window strategies for obtaining the actual surface temperature (AST) from an infra-red sensor system are investigated by means of simulations of radiometer signals for a wide range of different geophysical situations. The differences between strategies are closely related to the strong or weak presence of atmospheric effects in the split-window coefficient. It has been demonstrated that the strong presence makes it necessary to know the total atmospheric water vapour as well as the effective emissivities in the two thermal channels for applying the strong split-window method, whereas for the weak presence one only needs to know the emissivities. Simplified algorithms have been obt…

A physical model for interpreting the land surface temperature obtained by remote sensors over incomplete canopies

Abstract At the present moment, land surface temperature cannot be obtained in a routine way from satellite data due, in part, to the nonexistence of a complete theoretical model that permits us to know the physical significance of land surface temperature obtained by remote sensors. In this article a relationship between the effective temperature of the radiative system vegetation-ground and the temperatures of each part of the system (top, sunny and shaded wall of vegetation, and sunny and shaded soil) has been derived. It depends on the proportions of each component observed by the sensor, on the ground and vegetation emissivities, and on the crop structure (mean height, width, and spaci…

Fine-scale estimations of bioclimatic change in the Valencia region, Spain

Recent advances in statistical downscaling have allowed the reconstruction of temperatures for the complete 1948–2011 period in a spatial resolution of 90 m and without gaps for the Valencian Community (Spain) and bordering areas. It presently enables analyses in this region, which allows the determination of recent temperature changes at subregional and local scales. The present work focuses on obtaining the thermicity index according to Rivas-Martínez, a well-known indicator of different thermotypes associated with bioclimatic horizons. The change in this index, which has happened in the region between 1948 and 2011, was calculated by generating fine-scale maps of the potential extension …

Simulation of surface energy fluxes and meteorological variables using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS): Evaluating the impact of land-atmosphere coupling on short-term forecasts

Atmospheric mesoscale numerical models are commonly used not only for research and air quality studies, but also for other related applications, such as short-term weather forecasting for atmospheric, hydrological, agricultural and ecological modelling. A key element to produce faithful simulations is the proper representation of the soil parameters used in the initialization of the corresponding mesoscale numerical model. The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) is used in the current study. The model code has been updated in order to permit the model to be initialized using a heterogeneous soil moisture and temperature distribution derived from land surface models. Particularly, RA…

Foam effect on the sea surface emissivity in the 8–14μm region

[1] The effect of foam on the sea surface emission has been studied in the microwave region, but its effect on thermal infrared emissivity and temperature has not been sufficiently analyzed in the literature. This paper presents thermal infrared measurements of foam-covered seawaters carried out under controlled conditions using a multichannel radiometer working in the 8–14 μm region. The experimental data show a negligible foam effect at low observation angles but a significant increase of emissivity with foam at angles above 45°. Differences between foam and foam-free emissivities are about +0.04 for observation angles of 65°, depending slightly on the radiometric spectral band. The effec…

Determination of the effective emissivity and temperature under vertical observation of a citrus orchard. Application to frost nowcasting

Abstract In this work we use Becker's model for the determination of the effective temperature and emissivity under vertical observation of a citrus orchard. We apply this model to the particular case of a typically radiative night cooling (completely clear sky and calm wind) condition under which radiation frosts are normally produced which are damaging to the fruit and, consequently, to the Valencian economy. An attempt is made to establish a safety limit over which a frost cannot be produced. Ground and orange tree emissivity measurements were carried out by means of the box method. We were able to construct a hand-driven scanning system for the temperature measurement of the ground-oran…

Emissivity errors in the vegetation cover method caused by the lack of atmospheric correction

The influence of the lack of atmospheric correction of the optical images used to calculate land surface emissivity (LSE) was assessed. When thermal emissivity is determined by the vegetation cover method (VCM), information from the solar spectrum is required to calculate the vegetation cover fraction. The atmospheric correction was obtained in this study by using a combination of the dark dense vegetation (DDV) method and the Second Simulation of the Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) code. The methodology was applied to a Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image of Tomelloso, Spain. We determined that the emissivity between 10 and 12 µm only increases by 0.4% (which represents a system…

Ground measurements for the validation of land surface temperatures derived from AATSR and MODIS data

Abstract An experimental site was set up in a large, flat and homogeneous area of rice crops for the validation of satellite derived land surface temperature (LST). Experimental campaigns were held in the summers of 2002–2004, when rice crops show full vegetation cover. LSTs were measured radiometrically along transects covering an area of 1 km 2 . A total number of four thermal radiometers were used, which were calibrated and inter-compared through the campaigns. Radiometric temperatures were corrected for emissivity effects using field emissivity and downwelling sky radiance measurements. A database of ground-based LSTs corresponding to morning, cloud-free overpasses of Envisat/Advanced A…

Improved meteorology and surface energy fluxes in mesoscale modelling using adjusted initial vertical soil moisture profiles

Abstract. The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) is being used for different and diverse purposes, ranging from atmospheric and dispersion of pollutants forecasting to agricultural meteorology and ecological modelling as well as for hydrological purposes, among others. The current paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the RAMS forecasts, comparing the results not only with observed standard surface meteorological variables, measured at FLUXNET stations and other portable and permanent weather stations located over the region of study, but also with non-standard observed variables, such as the surface energy fluxes, with the aim of evaluating the surface energy budget and its…

Estimation of the water table depth of the Calarasi district Island (Romania) at the Danube River using ASTER/DEM data

The water table is the top level of ground water by definition. Therefore surface water is an exposed part of the water table. Airborne measurements, resistivimeters determinations or perforation analyses can be used to determine the water table depth. These methods require, approximately, taking a sample per hectare, which is a very expensive and time-consuming procedure. However, remote sensing constitutes an ideal alternative to determine water table depth, because unlike the existing methodologies, which are very expensive due to equipment and travel expenses, the proposed methodology is cheap and simple. The ASTER GDEM data is available at no charge to users via electronic download and…

A Simple method for estimating the latent heat flux over grass from radiative bowen ratio

Abstract The evaluation of crop evapotranspiration from infrared temperature is usually calculated as the residual component of the surface energy balance. This method has given good results over a full grass canopy cover with unstressed transpiration, in spite of the not well understood meaning of the aerodynamic resistance needed. A simple and more accurate method, which determines the Bowen ratio (β) and the latent heat flux (λE) over a reference grass area without knowledge of surface resistances, is proposed. The proportionality between β and a radiative Bowen ratio βs is shown. The radiative Bowen ratio is derived from surface and air temperatures and vapor pressure. This relationship…

Autonomous Measurements of Sea Surface Temperature Using In Situ Thermal Infrared Data

Abstract In situ and autonomous measurements of sea surface temperature (SST) have been performed with a thermal infrared radiometer mounted on a fixed oil rig. The accuracy limit was established at ±0.3 K for these SST measurements in order to meet the requirements of the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program for global climate research and the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission for salinity retrieval. With this aim, the optimal observation angle and spectral channel for SST measurements have been identified. Then, a methodology has been developed for the radiometer calibration and the emissivity correction, including the reflection of the downwelling sky radiance, w…

Development of a general model to estimate the instantaneous, daily, and daytime net radiation with satellite data on clear-sky days

Net radiation is a key variable in computing evapotranspiration and is a driving force in many other physical and biological processes. Remote sensing techniques provide an unparalleled spatial and temporal coverage of land-surface attributes, and thus several studies have attempted to estimate net radiation by combining remote sensing observations with surface and atmospheric data. However, remote sensing provides instantaneous data, when many applications and models need information at other temporal scales. In this work, a new general methodology is proposed to estimate daily and daytime net radiation and to retrieve the diurnal cycle of net radiation. Four images were acquired on differ…

Comparison of in Situ Land Surface Temperatures Measured with Radiometers and Pyrgeometers: Consequences for Calibration and Validation of Thermal Infrared Sensors

Land surface temperature (LST) is a key magnitude in many exchange processes between the surface and the atmosphere. LST measurement from satellites provides an efficient way to monitor its change across wide areas on Earth, an essential issue being LST validation using in situ measurements to assess its accuracy and precision. Presently, there are two widely used methodologies: temperature measurements made by wideband radiometers observing the land surface with a given viewing angle and a limited field of view, and measurements provided by total radiation pyrgeometers with a nearly hemispheric field of view. Although both measurements are correlated, they are not equivalent; thus, it is r…

Estimating energy balance fluxes above a boreal forest from radiometric temperature observations

Abstract The great areal extent of boreal forests confers these ecosystems potential to impact on the global surface-atmosphere energy exchange. A modelling approach, based on a simplified two-source energy balance model, was proposed to estimate energy balance fluxes above boreal forests using thermal infrared measurements. Half-hourly data from the Solar-Induced Fluorescence Experiment, carried out in a Finnish boreal forest, was used to evaluate the performance of the model. Energy balance closure, determined by linear regression, found all fluxes to underestimate available energy by 9% (r2 = 0.94). Significance in the energy balance of the heat storage in the air and in the soil terms w…

Spatial and temporal rainfall changes in the Júcar and Segura basins (1955-2016): Fine-scale trends

A daily rainfall database covering the Júcar and Segura river basin authorities (east Iberian Peninsula, Spain) with high spatial density without gaps (890 series) has been created for the complete period 1955–2016. This has allowed a trend analysis of precipitation and dry/wet spells with a better spatial detail and coverage of key headwaters sectors than previous studies in this area. Results show significant negative trends for precipitation prevailing in Júcar area (an annual average loss of 51 mm), especially towards its north interior headwaters. For this last one the annual loss exceeds 200 mm (20% of precipitation). By contrast, certain pre‐littoral sectors and most of the Segura ar…

Impact of Land Cover Change Induced by a Fire Event on the Surface Energy Fluxes Derived from Remote Sensing

Forest fires affect the natural cycle of the vegetation, and the structure and functioning of ecosystems. As a consequence of defoliation and vegetation mortality, surface energy flux patterns can suffer variations. Remote sensing techniques together with surface energy balance modeling offer the opportunity to explore these changes. In this paper we focus on a Mediterranean forest ecosystem. A fire event occurred in 2001 in Almodovar del Pinar (Spain) affecting a pine and shrub area. A two-source energy balance approach was applied to a set of Landsat 5-TM and Landsat 7-EMT+ images to estimate the surface fluxes in the area. Three post-fire periods were analyzed, six, seven, nine, and 11 y…

Land surface air temperature retrieval from EOS-MODIS images

The knowledge of the spatial and temporal patterns of surface air temperature (SAT) is essential to monitor a region's climate and meteorology, to quantify surface exchange processes, to improve climatic and meteorological model results, and to study health and economic impacts. This letter analyzed correlations between SAT and geophysical land surface variables, mainly land surface temperature (LST), to establish operative techniques to obtain spatially continuous land SAT maps from satellite data, unlike data provided by meteorological station networks. The correlations were analyzed by using EOS-MODIS images, meteorological station network data, and geographical variables. Linear regress…

Impact of Noah-LSM Parameterizations on WRF Mesoscale Simulations: Case Study of Prevailing Summer Atmospheric Conditions over a Typical Semi-Arid Region in Eastern Spain

The current study evaluates the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) to forecast surface energy fluxes over a region in Eastern Spain. Focusing on the sensitivity of the model to Land Surface Model (LSM) parameterizations, we compare the simulations provided by the original Noah LSM and the Noah LSM with multiple physics options (Noah-MP). Furthermore, we assess the WRF sensitivity to different Noah-MP physics schemes, namely the calculation of canopy stomatal resistance (OPT_CRS), the soil moisture factor for stomatal resistance (OPT_BTR), and the surface layer drag coefficient (OPT_SFC). It has been found that these physics options strongly affect the energy partiti…

Confort climático, cambio climático y actividad turística en Alicante

Ponencia presentada en: X Congreso de la Asociación Española de Climatología celebrado en Alicante entre el 5 y el 8 de octubre de 2016. [ES]Los rasgos climáticos son esenciales para comprender la vocación turística de los territorios. En el litoral mediterráneo desde los años sesenta del siglo XX hay una especialización en el producto turístico basado en los rasgos climáticos de verano (sol y playa). La provincia de Alicante es un destino turístico principal en el área mediterránea española y esta actividad representa el 18% de su PIB provincial. Las condiciones climáticas actuales proporcionan valores de confort climático, según el índice TCI, muy buenos o excelentes durante la temporada …

Improving RAMS and WRF mesoscale forecasts over two distinct vegetation covers using an appropriate thermal roughness length parameterization

Land Surface Models (LSM) have shown some difficulties to properly simulate day-time 2-m air and surface skin temperatures. This kind of models are coupled to atmospheric models in mesoscale modelling, such as the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. This model coupling is used within Numerical Weather Prediction Systems (NWP) in order to forecast key physical processes for agricultural meteorology and forestry as well as in ecological modelling. The current study first evaluates the surface energy fluxes and temperatures simulated by these two state-of-the-art NWP models over two distinct vegetated covers, one corresponding to a …

Test of the MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Separation Algorithm With Ground Measurements Over a Rice Paddy

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) and emissivity separation (MODTES) algorithm is the basis of the MOD21 product, which provides 1-km LSTs and emissivities for bands 29 (8.55 μm), 31 (11 μm), and 32 (12 μm). The MODTES algorithm uses the TES method with the water vapor scaling (WVS) method for refined atmospheric correction. The performance of the MODTES algorithm was tested with a set of MODIS data concurrent with ground LST and emissivity measurements. The test site is a large area of homogeneous full-cover rice crops (graybody), with high atmospheric water vapor. The data included LSTs measured along transects with multiple calibrate…

Implementation of non-local boundary layer schemes in the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System and its impact on simulated mesoscale circulations

This paper proposes the implementation of different non-local Planetary Boundary Layer schemes within the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) model. The two selected PBL parameterizations are the Medium-Range Forecast (MRF) PBL and its updated version, known as the Yonsei University (YSU) PBL. YSU is a first-order scheme that uses non-local eddy diffusivity coefficients to compute turbulent fluxes. It is based on the MRF, and improves it with an explicit treatment of the entrainment. With the aim of evaluating the RAMS results for these PBL parameterizations, a series of numerical simulations have been performed and contrasted with the results obtained using the Mellor and Yamada (M…

ON THE USE OF SATELLITE THERMAL DATA FOR DETERMINING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION IN PARTIALLY VEGETATED AREAS

Abstract The use of satellite data for determining daily evapotranspiration over completely vegetated areas has been analysed by different authors. However, if the soil surface is partially covered by vegetation the problem becomes more complicated, because in this case the value of the temperature measured by the satellite varies with the viewing geometry. In this work we have studied the influence of the satellite observation angle for crops with different cover degree, field geometry and ground emissivity. For this purpose we have used the simplified relation proposed by Jackson et al.LET d=Rnd−B(T3−T a)iwhere ET 4 and R nd are the daily values of evapotranspiration and net radiation res…

An angular-dependent split-window equation for SST retrieval from off-nadir observations

An angular-dependent split-window equation is proposed for determining the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) at any observation angle, including large viewing angles at the image edges of satellite sensors with wide swaths. The proposed equation takes into account the angular dependences of the atmospheric correction and also the emissivity correction. An explicit dependence on the SSE is considered in an independent term. The inclusion of such a term is not common in the current operational SST algorithms but we consider it appropriate taking into account the non-blackness of the sea surface emission for large angles and also the dependence on wind speed. The equation has been adapted to the M…

Mapping burns and natural reforestation using thematic Mapper data

Abstract Remote sensing techniques are specially suitable to detect and to map areas affected by forest fires. In this work, Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) data has been used to study a number of forest fires that occurred in the province of Valencia (Spain) and to monitor the vegetation regeneration over burnt areas. A reference area (non‐burnt forest) was established to assess the change produced by fire. The radiance in the thermal band (10.4–12.5 μm) and the normalized difference in reflectance between near 1R (0.76–0.90 μm) and middle IR (2.08–2.35 μm) were the most suitable parameters to map burnt areas. This index can also be used for monitoring vegetation regeneration in burnt areas…

On the relativistic heat equation in one space dimension

We study the relativistic heat equation in one space dimension. We prove a local regularity result when the initial datum is locally Lipschitz in its support. We propose a numerical scheme that captures the known features of the solutions and allows for analysing further properties of their qualitative behaviour. J.A.C. acknowledges partial support by MINECO project, reference MTM2011-27739-C04-02, by GRC 2009 SGR 345 by the Generalitat de Catalunya, and by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant number EP/K008404/1. J.A.C. also acknowledges support from the Royal Society through a Wolfson Research Merit Award. V.C. acknowledges partial support by MINECO project, refere…

Soil Moisture Effect on Thermal Infrared (8–13-μm) Emissivity

Thermal infrared (TIR) emissivities of soils with different textures were measured for several soil moisture (SM) contents under controlled conditions using the Box method and a high-precision multichannel TIR radiometer. The results showed a common increase of emissivity with SM at water contents lower than the field capacity. However, this dependence is negligible for higher water contents. The highest emissivity variations were observed in sandy soils, particularly in the 8-9-μm range due to water adhering to soil grains and decreasing the reflectance in the 8-9-μm quartz doublet region. Thus, in order to model the emissivity dependence on soil water content, different approaches were st…

Determining water use of sorghum from two-source energy balance and radiometric temperatures

Estimates of surface actual evapotranspiration (ET) can assist in predicting crop water requirements. An alternative to the traditional crop-coefficient methods are the energy balance models. The objective of this research was to show how surface temperature observations can be used, together with a two-source energy balance model, to determine crop water use throughout the different phenological stages of a crop grown. Radiometric temperatures were collected in a sorghum (<i>Sorghum bicolor</i>) field as part of an experimental campaign carried out in Barrax, Spain, during the 2010 summer growing season. Performance of the Simplified Two-Source Energy Balance (STSEB) model was …

Estimation of atmospheric water vapour content from direct measurements of radiance in the thermal infrared region

Atmospheric water vapour content is a required parameter in thermal infrared (TIR) to carry out processes such as atmospheric correction or retrieving atmospheric factors (downwelling or upwelling irradiance, transmittance of the atmosphere and so on). This study proposes an alternative method to the ones already in use to measure water vapour content from direct measurements of downwelling atmospheric radiance in the TIR range. It was possible to estimate a linear relationship between atmospheric water vapour and downwelling atmospheric radiance using a simulated study, based on data from a radiosounding database. A subsequent validation concludes that it is possible to obtain water vapour…

Some qualitative properties for the total variation flow

We prove the existence of a finite extinction time for the solutions of the Dirichlet problem for the total variation flow. For the Neumann problem, we prove that the solutions reach the average of its initial datum in finite time. The asymptotic profile of the solutions of the Dirichlet problem is also studied. It is shown that the profiles are nonzero solutions of an eigenvalue-type problem that seems to be unexplored in the previous literature. The propagation of the support is analyzed in the radial case showing a behaviour entirely different to the case of the problem associated with the p-Laplacian operator. Finally, the study of the radially symmetric case allows us to point out othe…

An alternative simple approach to estimate atmospheric correction in multitemporal studies

Abstract Studies that use multitemporal images require the conversion of original digital data into the corresponding physical magnitudes. Atmospheric correction is one of the most important steps in this process, which is usually undertaken using atmospheric radiative transfer models. The main difficulty in these models is the need of atmospheric input data which are not usually available. An alternative approach to atmospheric correction is proposed in this Letter. It is based on the idea that the atmospheric effects over two or more dates can be determined in a relative way, by using the apparent reflectance values of surfaces whose ground reflectance can be considered unchangeable with …

Shelter and remotely sensed night temperatures in orange groves

In previous papers we have used a linear regression approach for determining nocturnal air temperature in orange groves from satellite thermal data. However, this procedure has a poor precision (≈ 2 °C) for applications such as frost forecasting. For this reason a theoretical method has been proposed, which is based on the following assumptions: (1) the air temperature (Ta) is the result of the convective heat exchange between ground and air, and between air and orange trees, and (2) the remotely-sensed temperature (T) can be expressed as a function of ground (Tg) and orange tree (Ts) temperatures. So the relationshipT = Ta + (ag − α) (Tg − Ts) has been derived, wherea = (1 +h2πR/h1L)−1 and…

Analysis of the heat-island effect of the city of Valencia, Spain, through air temperature transects and NOAA satellite data

The aim of this paper is to analyze the heat-island effect of the city of Valencia, Spain, by means of the traditional technique (transects of the air temperature measured from a car) and by means of NOAA satellite thermal images. The analysis includes the nights of 27 and 28 February 1988, on which a light radiative frost occurred. Satellite images were corrected for the emissivity effect by defining an effective emissivity, which was obtained from the emissivity values of the asphalt, walls and roofs of the buildings, and from the proportion of these elements in each pixel. By comparing air temperature values with corrected NOAA data, we have observed that the value of the heat-island eff…

Comparison between different sources of atmospheric profiles for land surface temperature retrieval from single channel thermal infrared data

Abstract Different sources of atmospheric water vapor and temperature profiles were used with a radiative transfer model for retrieving land surface temperature (LST) from thermal infrared remote sensing data with the so-called single channel (SC) method. Retrieved LSTs were compared to concurrent ground measurements over homogeneous rice fields to assess the accuracy of the atmospheric profiles. These included radiosonde balloons launched at the test site near-concurrently to satellite overpasses, re-analysis profiles from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and satellite sounder products from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Moderate Imaging Spectrorad…

Comparative assessment of RAMS and WRF short-term forecasts over Eastern Iberian Peninsula using various in-situ observations, remote sensing products and uncoupled land surface model datasets

The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale models are being used for weather and air quality studies as well as forecasting tools in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems. In the current study, we perform a comparative assessment of these models under distinct typical atmospheric conditions, classified according to the dominant wind flow and cloudiness, over Eastern Iberian Peninsula. This study is focused on the model representation of key physical processes in terms of meteorology and surface variables during a 7-days period in summer 2011. The hourly outputs produced by these two models are compared not only with observed…

Validation of temperature-emissivity separation and split-window methods from TIMS data and ground measurements

Abstract Land surface temperature retrieved with temperature-emissivity separation (TES) and split-window (SW) algorithms from six-channel Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data in the HAPEX-Sahel experiment agreed with contemporaneous ground temperature measurements to within ±1 °C (TES and SW with channels at 10.8 and 11.7 μm, or SW-56). The SW algorithm used with TIMS channels at 8.4 and 8.7 μm (SW-12) underestimated ground temperatures by 2–5 °C. The TES method required atmospheric correction of at-sensor radiances, which was done with local radiosonde data and MODTRAN 4, and an empirical relationship between the spectral range of emissivity and its minimum value. Emissivity…

Automatic classification-based generation of thermal infrared land surface emissivity maps using AATSR data over Europe

The remote sensing measurement of land surface temperature from satellites provides a monitoring of this magnitude on a continuous and regular basis, which is a critical factor in many research fields such as weather forecasting, detection of forest fires or climate change studies, for instance. The main problem of measuring temperature from space is the need to correct for the effects of the atmosphere and the surface emissivity. In this work an automatic procedure based on the Vegetation Cover Method, combined with the GLOBCOVER land surface type classification, is proposed. The algorithm combines this land cover classification with remote sensing information on the vegetation cover fract…

Validation and comparison of two models based on the Mie theory to predict 8-14 µm emissivity spectra of mineral surfaces

A simple technique for estimating surface temperature by means of a thermal infrared radiometer

Abstract In this Letter we present a simple technique for estimating surface temperatures from data obtained by means of a thermal infrared radiometer. The technique is based simply on the use of a table and a graph, from which cmissivity and atmospheric effects are easily evaluated. The accuracy is better than a tenth of a degree when emissivity and atmospheric radiance arc known.

Lysimeter assessment of the Simplified Two-Source Energy Balance model and eddy covariance system to estimate vineyard evapotranspiration

Abstract Estimation of crop water needs plays a key role in the water resource management in arid and semi-arid regions. Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) becomes the key term in both water and energy balances at this point. In this work we focus on vineyard due to the significance of this crop for La Mancha region, Spain, with the greatest concentration of vineyards in the world. Eddy-covariance (EC) technique has been traditionally used for ground observations of ETa. One of the aims of this work is to assess the feasibility of an EC system under the challenging conditions of a small drip-irrigated vineyard in a semi-arid environment. Two-source energy balance modelling allows for ETa estim…

Comparison of field emissivities with laboratory measurements and ASTER data

Surface emissivity in the thermal infrared (TIR) region is an important parameter for determining the land surface temperature from remote sensing measurements. This work compares the emissivities measured by different field methods (the Box method and the Temperature and Emissivity Separation, TES, algorithm) as well as emissivity data from ASTER scenes and the spectra obtained from the ASTER Spectral Library. The study was performed with a field radiometer having TIR bands with central wavelengths at 11.3 μm, 10.6 μm, 9.1 μm, 8.7 μm and 8.4 μm, similar to the ASTER TIR bands. The measurements were made at two sites in southern New Mexico. The first was in the White Sands National Monument…

Atmospheric correction for land surface temperature using NOAA-11 AVHRR channels 4 and 5

Abstract In this work, a theoretical model that permits relating the land surface temperature with the temperatures measured by thermal infrared sensors has been developed. The model has been derived by linearization of Planck's function and atmospheric trasmittance. In this way a split-window equation is obtained, which depends on atmospheric water vapor, viewing angle, and channel surface emissivities. Simulations of satellite measurements of land surface temperatures are made using the atmospheric transmittance-radiance model LOWTRAN-7 for NOAA-11 AVHRR Channels 4 and 5. From these simulations the accuracies of linearizations have been checked. The dependence of the split-window coeffici…

Long-term accuracy assessment of land surface temperatures derived from the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer

Abstract The accuracy of land surface temperatures (LSTs) derived from the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) was assessed in a test site in Valencia, Spain from 2002 to 2008. AATSR LSTs were directly compared with concurrent ground measurements over homogeneous, full-vegetated rice fields in the conventional temperature-based (T-based) method. We also applied the new radiance-based (R-based) method over bare soil and water surfaces, where ground LST measurements were not available. In the R-based method, ground LSTs are simulated from AATSR brightness temperatures in the 11 μm band and radiative transfer simulations using surface emissivity data and atmospheric water vapor an…

An Atmospheric Radiosounding Database for Generating Land Surface Temperature Algorithms

A database of global, cloud-free, and atmospheric radiosounding profiles was compiled with the aim of simulating radiometric measurements from satellite-borne sensors in the thermal infrared. The objective of the simulated data is to generate split-window (SW) and dual-angle (DA) algorithms for the retrieval of land surface temperature (LST) from Terra/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Envisat/Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) data. The database contains 382 radiosounding profiles acquired over land, with nearly uniform distribution of precipitable water between 0.02 and 5.5 cm. Radiative transfer calculations were performed with the MODTRAN 4 code for…

Estimate of the alpha parameter in an oat crop under rain-fed conditions

In this article, we estimated the alpha parameter of the Priestley–Taylor model under rain-fed conditions. This study was conducted in an oat crop, from 7 September to 22 October 2009, in a region of subhumid plains (Tandil, Argentina). An energy balance station was installed within the experimental field to monitor its development. The alpha parameter value obtained was 1.41 ± 0.01, which led to an overestimation of the evapotranspiration of just 2% and a relative error in estimating evapotranspiration of 8%. The results suggest that the alpha parameter obtained is adequate in estimating the evapotranspiration of oat crops or similar crops in subhumid plains of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cop…

Application of artificial neural networks and logistic regression to the prediction of forest fire danger in Galicia using MODIS data

Fire danger models are a very useful tool for the prevention and extinction of forest fires. Some inputs of these models, such as vegetation status and temperature, can be obtained from remote sensing images, which offer higher spatial and temporal resolution than direct ground measures. In this paper, we focus on the Galicia region (north-west of Spain), and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) images are used to monitor vegetation status and to obtain land surface temperature as essential inputs in forest fire danger models. In this work, we tested the potential of artificial neural networks and logistic regression to estimate forest fire danger from remote sensing and f…

Analysis of thermal infrared data from the Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer

Thermal infrared data of the Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (DAIS), whose channels 74-79 are in the 8-13 w m waveband region, were analysed with the aim of recovering land surface temperature (LST). DAIS images were acquired over an experimental site where field and laboratory emissivity measurements were performed, and these were used to recover the LST from the six DAIS thermal channels. Atmospheric correction of DAIS data was calculated by means of a nearby radiosounding and a radiative transfer model. DAIS derived LSTs were compared with ground measurements of LST made coincidentally for a few test fields, the central DAIS channels yielding temperatures up to 10°C higher than gro…

A field method for measuring the thermal infrared emissivity

Abstract In this work, a field method for measuring thermal infrared emissivities is proposed which is based on the box method, initially developed by Buettner and Kern (1965) for laboratory measurements. A theoretical analysis was made of the measurement carried out using the box and a correcting factor to Buettner and Kern's technique has been determined. Buettner and Kern's method has been modified to use radiative temperatures measured with a radiothermometer instead of radiance measurements. The walls of the box used and the cold lid was made of polished aluminium and the hot lid was made of black-painted anodized aluminium and it was heated in the field by solar radiation. With this m…

Effect of Soil Moisture on the Angular Variation of Thermal Infrared Emissivity of Inorganic Soils

Emissivity is influenced by different factors. This study deals with the effect of the soil moisture (SM) content on the zenithal (θ) variation of ratio-to-nadir emissivity (εr), for a wide variety of inorganic bare soils. To retrieve εr, a goniometer assembly was used, together with two identical CIMEL Electronique CE312-2 radiometers working at six spectral bands within 7.7-14.3 μm, performing simultaneous radiance measurements at different combinations of zenith and azimuth angles. The results showed that the effect of SM upon εr(θ) is different depending on the spectral range and textural composition of the sample. Sandy soils showed a decrease of εr(θ) from nadir up to 0.132 for θ ≥ 40…

Mapping land surface emissivity from NDVI: Application to European, African, and South American areas

Thermal infrared emissivity is an important parameter both for surface characterization and for atmospheric correction methods. Mapping the emissivity from satellite data is therefore a very important question to solve. The main problem is the coupling of the temperature and emissivity effects in the thermal radiances. Several methods have been developed to obtain surface emissivity from satellite data. In this way we propose a theoretical model that relates the emissivity to the NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) of a given surface and explains the experimental behavior observed by van de Griend and Owe. We can use it to obtain the emissivity in any thermal channel, but in this …

Thermal remote sensing of land surface temperature from satellites: Current status and future prospects

Abstract In this paper we review the current status for deriving land surface temperatures (LSTs) by remote sensing from satellites in the thermal infrared. Because of its widespread use and global applicability, we concentrate on the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The theoretical framework and methodologies used to derive LSTs are reviewed and amplified. Practical algorithms are described and their accuracy and application critically evaluated through sensitivity studies and by inter‐comparison. The important effects of the atmosphere, surface emissivity and instrument noise are considered and the current practice for removing these effects is specified. The accuracy cur…

Adjusted Normalized Emissivity Method for surface temperature and emissivity retrieval from optical and thermal infrared remote sensing data

[1] A methodology for the retrieval of surface temperatures and emissivities combining visible, near infrared and thermal infrared remote sensing data was applied to Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (DAIS) data and validated with coincident ground measurements acquired in a multiyear experiment held in an agricultural site in Barrax, Spain. The Adjusted Normalized Emissivity Method (ANEM) is based on the use of visible and near infrared data to estimate the vegetation cover and model the maximum emissivity according to the Vegetation Cover Method. The pixel-dependent maximum emissivity is used as the initial guess of the Normalized Emissivity Method to obtain the surface temperature an…

In situ surface temperature retrieval in a boreal forest under variable cloudiness conditions

Canopy temperature retrieval was one of the purposes during the Solar Induced FLuorescence EXperiment (SIFLEX‐2002) of the European Space Agency, carried out in a Finnish boreal forest. In this work, we describe the strategy used to determine this temperature from ground thermal infrared (TIR) data under skies with variable cloud cover. TIR radiance was measured by a CIMEL Electronique CE 312 radiometer. An analysis of the radiative transfer equation showed which terms were necessary to obtain accurate surface temperatures during the campaign. Atmospheric correction was considered negligible due to the small atmospheric path, but hemispheric downwelling sky radiance determination was needed…

Emissivity measurements of several soils and vegetation types in the 8–14, μm Wave band: Analysis of two field methods

Abstract The two variants of the box method (with one and two lids) has been rigorously analyzed. As a result of this analysis, a correction factor that takes into account the nonideality of the materials used for the box, as well as its geometry, has been derived A simple method for determining the effective downward atmospheric temperature that uses only the temperature measurement at the zenith also has been proposed. Finally, by using one of the two variants of the box method, 72 in situ emissivity measurements in the 8–14 pin wave-band region of typical vegetation, soils, and rocks of Europe and South America, has been obtained. The use of these data for the ernissivity correction of s…

Predictive Power of the Emissivity Angular Variation of Soils in the Thermal Infrared (8–14 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$ </tex-math> </inline-formula>m) Region by Two Mie-Based Emissivity Theoretical Models

A confident knowledge of land surface emissivity at viewing zenith angles far from nadir is of prime interest to perform an accurate correction of the anisotropy effect in the measurements made by orbiting thermal infrared (TIR) sensors. It is also important for the correct treatment of angular measurements carried out by remote sensors such as AATSR/ENVISAT, MODIS/Terra–Aqua, or the recently launched SLSTR/Sentinel-3, which can also be used for the angular normalization of land surface temperature due to viewing geometry effect. In this letter, the anisotropy of TIR emissivity predicted by two analytical, Warren–Wiscombe–Dozier and Hapke, models based on Mie diffraction theory was compared…

Imation of land surface emissivity differences in the split-window channels of AVHRR

Abstract A method for estimating the difference between the channel emissivities in NOAA-AVHRR Channels 4 and 5 is proposed and applied to a data set from the HAPEX-MOBILHY experiment. The method is based on the separation between the atmospheric and emissivity effects in the brightness temperature difference measured with AVHRR Channels 4 and 5. Atmospheric profiles coincident to the satellite overpass and a radiative transfer model are required to estimate the atmospheric correction for brightness temperatures. With this procedure, the emissivity difference Δe is obtained at the satellite spatial and spectral resolution, which has a great interest for correcting thermal images with the sp…

Landsat and Local Land Surface Temperatures in a Heterogeneous Terrain Compared to MODIS Values

Land Surface Temperature (LST) as provided by remote sensing onboard satellites is a key parameter for a number of applications in Earth System studies, such as numerical modelling or regional estimation of surface energy and water fluxes. In the case of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra or Aqua, pixels have resolutions near 1 km 2 , LST values being an average of the real subpixel variability of LST, which can be significant for heterogeneous terrain. Here, we use Landsat 7 LST decametre-scale fields to evaluate the temporal and spatial variability at the kilometre scale and compare the resulting average values to those provided by MODIS for the same obser…

Temperature and emissivity separation from calibrated data of the Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer

Abstract The Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (DAIS), with six thermal infrared channels in the 8–14 μm window, was flown over the Barrax test site, Spain, in the framework of the DAIS Experiment in the summer of 1998. Atmospheric correction of the DAIS thermal channels was performed by means of local radiosonde measurements and a radiative transfer model. Ground measurements of temperature and emissivity for six selected spots (two bare soils, two water bodies, and two vegetated fields) were conducted with the objective of providing calibration and validation targets. Three targets were used for a linear ground calibration of the DAIS thermal channels. With the ground-calibrated image…

SMOS Level-2 Soil Moisture Product Evaluation in Rain-Fed Croplands of the Pampean Region of Argentina

A field campaign was carried out to evaluate the Soil Moisture (SM) MIR-SMUDP2 product (v5.51) generated from the data of the Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) aboard the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. The study area was the Pampean Region of Argentina, which was selected because it is a vast area of flatlands containing quite homogeneous rain-fed croplands, which are considered SMOS nominal land uses and hardly affected by radio-frequency interference contamination. Transects of ground handheld SM measurements were performed using ThetaProbe ML2x probes within four Icosahedral Snyder Equal Area Earth (ISEA) grid nodes, where permanent SM statio…

Integrated satellite data fusion and mining for monitoring lake water quality status of the Albufera de Valencia in Spain

Abstract Lake eutrophication is a critical issue in the interplay of water supply, environmental management, and ecosystem conservation. Integrated sensing, monitoring, and modeling for a holistic lake water quality assessment with respect to multiple constituents is in acute need. The aim of this paper is to develop an integrated algorithm for data fusion and mining of satellite remote sensing images to generate daily estimates of some water quality parameters of interest, such as chlorophyll a concentrations and water transparency, to be applied for the assessment of the hypertrophic Albufera de Valencia. The Albufera de Valencia is the largest freshwater lake in Spain, which can often pr…

Evaluation of split-window and dual-angle correction methods for land surface temperature retrieval from Envisat/Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) data

[1] Land surface temperature (LST) can be derived from thermal infrared remote sensing data provided that atmospheric and emissivity effects are corrected for. In this paper, two correction methods were evaluated using a database of ground LST measurements and concurrent Envisat/Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) data. They were the split-window (SW) method, which uses two channels at 11 and 12 μm, and the dual-angle (DA) method, using one single channel (11 μm) at two observation angles (close to nadir and around 55° forward). The ground LST measurements were performed in a large, flat, and thermally homogeneous area of rice fields during the summers of 2002–2005, when the cr…

Improved meteorology and surface fluxes in mesoscale modelling using adjusted initial vertical soil moisture profiles

The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) is being used for different and diverse purposes, ranging from atmospheric and dispersion of pollutants forecasting to agricultural meteorology and ecological modelling as well as for hydrological purposes, among others. The current paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the RAMS forecasts, comparing the results not only with observed standard surface meteorological variables, measured at FLUXNET stations and other portable and permanent weather stations located over the region of study, but also with non-standard observed variables, such as the surface energy fluxes, with the aim of evaluating the surface energy budget and its relation …

Empirical relationships for monitoring water quality of lakes and reservoirs through multispectral images

Remote sensing techniques can be used to estimate water quality variables such as chlorophyll ${\mbi a}$ , total suspended particles, and water transparency. This paper describes empirical algorithms for the estimation of these variables using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data. Ground data were taken from several Spanish lakes covering a variety of trophic statuses, ranging from oligotrophic to hypereutrophic. The studied lakes were the Albufera de Valencia and lakes and ponds of the Southeast Regional Park in Madrid. Empirical equations were obtained to estimate chlorophyll ${\mbi a}$ from the ratio in reflectance values between bands 2 and 4 of TM ( $\bf{ R^2 \, {\mmb =}\, 0.66}$ , ${\bf …

Automatic Generation of Land Surface Emissivity Maps

The remote sensing measurement of the land surface temperature (LST) from satellites provides an overview of this magnitude on a continuous and regular basis. The study of its evolution in time and space is a critical factor in many scientific fields such as weather forecasting, detection of forest fires, climate change, etc. The main problem of making this measurement from satellite data is the need to correct the effects of the atmosphere and the land surface emissivity (LSE). Nowadays, these corrections are usually made using a split-window algorithm, which has an explicit dependence on land surface emissivity. Therefore, the aim of our work was to define an enhanced vegetation cover met…

On the atmospheric dependence of the split-window equation for land surface temperature

Abstract A split-window equation is derived for land surface temperature, yielding T = T4 + A(T4 − T5) + B(e), where T is the true surface temperature, T4 and T5 are the brightness temperatures measured in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, A is a coefficient related to the atmospheric transmittances in AVHRR channels 4 and 5, being dependent on the atmosphere type and independent on surface emissivity, and B(e) takes into account the emissivity effect, which depends on both the channel surface emissivities (e4 and e5) and the atmosphere type. The atmospheric dependence of split-window coefficients, A and B(e), is discussed by means of satellite measurements simulations and in situ data. It is shown t…

Evaluation of Disaggregation Methods for Downscaling MODIS Land Surface Temperature to Landsat Spatial Resolution in Barrax Test Site

Thermal infrared (TIR) data are usually acquired at a coarser spatial resolution (CR) than visible and near infrared (VNIR). Several disaggregation methods have been recently developed to enhance the TIR spatial resolution using VNIR data. These approaches are based on the retrieval of a relation between TIR and VNIR data at CR, or training of a neural network, to be applied at the fine resolution afterward. In this work, different disaggregation methods are applied to the combination of two different sensors in the experimental test site of Barrax, Spain. The main objective is to test the feasibility of these techniques when applied to satellites provided with no TIR bands. Landsat and mod…

Comparing different profiles to characterize the atmosphere for three MODIS TIR bands

Abstract Accurate land surface temperature (LST) retrievals from sensors aboard orbiting satellites are dependent on the corresponding atmospheric correction, especially in the thermal infrared (TIR) spectral domain (8–14 μm). To remove the atmospheric effects from at-sensor measured radiance in the TIR range it is needed to characterize the atmosphere by means of three specific variables: the upwelling path and the hemispherical downwelling radiances plus the atmospheric transmissivity. Those variables can be derived from the previous knowledge of vertical atmospheric profiles of air temperature and relative humidity at different geo-potential heights and pressures. In this work, the above…

Pixel-oriented land use classification in energy balance modelling

Mass and energy transfer between soil, vegetation and atmosphere is the process that allows to maintain an adequate energy and water balance in the earth–atmosphere system. However, the evaluation of the energy balance components, such as the net radiation and the sensible and latent heat fluxes, is characterized by significant uncertainties related to both the dynamic nature of heat transfer processes and surfaces heterogeneity. Therefore, a detailed land use classification and an accurate evaluation of vegetation spatial distribution are required for an accurate estimation of these variables. For this purpose, in the present article, a pixel-oriented supervised classification was applied …

Modeling Fire Danger in Galicia and Asturias (Spain) from MODIS images

Forest fires are one of the most dangerous natural hazards, especially when they are recurrent. In areas such as Galicia (Spain), forest fires are frequent and devastating. The development of fire risk models becomes a very important prevention task for these regions. Vegetation and moisture indices can be used to monitor vegetation status; however, the different indices may perform differently depending on the vegetation species. Eight different spectral indices were selected to determine the most appropriate index in Galicia. This study was extended to the adjacent region of Asturias. Six years of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) images, together with ground fire data…

In situ angular measurements of thermal infrared sea surface emissivity—Validation of models

Abstract In this paper, sea surface emissivity (SSE) measurements obtained from thermal infrared radiance data are presented. These measurements were carried out from a fixed oilrig under open sea conditions in the Mediterranean Sea during the WInd and Salinity Experiment 2000 (WISE 2000). The SSE retrieval methodology uses quasi-simultaneous measurements of the radiance coming from the sea surface and the downwelling sky radiance, in addition to the sea surface temperature (SST). The radiometric data were acquired by a CIMEL ELECTRONIQUE CE 312 radiometer, with four channels placed in the 8–14 μm region. The sea temperature was measured with high-precision thermal probes located on oceanog…

Simulation of extreme heat events over the Valencia coastal region: Sensitivity to initial conditions and boundary layer parameterizations

The Valencia coastal region (Western Mediterranean) is especially sensitive to extreme heat events, where they are really common. However, due to its geophysical characteristics and climatic conditions, the incidence of high and extreme temperatures may still be modulated over this area by means of sea breeze circulations, defining a Sea Breeze Convergence Zone (SBCZ) due to the meet and interaction of these mesoscale conditions and Western synoptic-scale wind regimes. A proper definition of this convergence zone is of significant importance over the study area for the simulation and forecast of intense-heat meteorological events. This study analyses a week period in August 2010 over this a…

Understanding the Effects of Fires on Surface Evapotranspiration Patterns Using Satellite Remote Sensing in Combination with an Energy Balance Model

Forest fires are highly destructive for nature, affecting the landscape, the natural cicle of the vegetation, and the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Beyond that, they also provoke changes in the local and regional meteorology, and particularly in the surface energy flux patterns. In a fire-affected area, changes in the ecosystem structure and species composition modify the evapotranspiration (LE) and the rest of the terms involved in the energy balance equation. Besides, these changes in the local energy balance may persist for decades (Randerson et al., 2006). There is an increasing concern among the scientific community about the effect of forest fires on climate change at this …

Study of Temperature Heterogeneities at Sub-Kilometric Scales and Influence on Surface–Atmosphere Energy Interactions

The retrieval of land surface temperature (LST) from remote sensing techniques has been studied and validated during the past 40 years, leading to important improvements. Accurate LST values are currently obtained through measurements using medium resolution thermal infrared (TIR) sensors. However, the most recent review reports demonstrated that the future TIR LST products need to obtain reliable temperature values at a high spatial resolution (100 m or higher) to study temperature variations between different elements in a heterogeneous kilometric area. The launch of high-resolution TIR sensors in the near future requires studies of the temporal evolution and spatial heterogeneities of th…

Comparaison de deux méthodes de correction atmosphérique des données thermiques de Landsat TM

The high resolution of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) thermal infrared data can be interesting in applications such as energy balance and crop water stress studies. However, surface temperature measurements are strongly affected by atmospheric effects, particularly by water vapour absorption, therefore a correction method is absolutely necessary. The impossibility of applying a split-window equation and the difficulty of having temporarily coincident radiosondes produce a slight use of Landsat TM data to obtain surface temperature. Vidal et al. show that in a zone with homogeneous climatic conditions, atmospheric correction can be evaluated by using energy balance equation and standard meteor…

On the angular variation of thermal infrared emissivity of inorganic soils

[1] Land surface temperature (LST), a key parameter for many environmental studies, can be most readily estimated by using thermal infrared (TIR) sensors onboard satellites. Accurate LST are contingent upon simultaneously accurate estimates of land surface emissivity (e), which depend on sensor viewing angle and the anisotropy of optical and structural properties of surfaces. In the case of inorganic bare soils (IBS), there are still few data that quantify emissivity angular effects. The present work deals with the angular variation of TIR emissivity for twelve IBS types, representative of nine of the twelve soil textures found on Earth according to United States Department of Agriculture c…

Daily air temperature and electricity load in Spain

Abstract Weather has a significant impact on different sectors of the economy. One of the most sensitive is the electricity market, because power demand is linked to several weather variables, mainly the air temperature. This work analyzes the relationship between electricity load and daily air temperature in Spain, using a population-weighted temperature index. The electricity demand shows a significant trend due to socioeconomic factors, in addition to daily and monthly seasonal effects that have been taken into account to isolate the weather influence on electricity load. The results indicate that the relationship is nonlinear, showing a “comfort interval” of ±3°C around 18°C and two sat…

Determination of sea surface temperature at large observation angles using an angular and emissivity-dependent split-window equation

Abstract This paper proposes an angular and emissivity-dependent split-window equation that permits the determination of the sea surface temperature (SST) to a reasonable level of accuracy for any observation angle, including large viewing angles at the image edges of satellite sensors with wide swaths. This is the case of the MODIS radiometer both on EOS Terra/Aqua platforms, with observation angles of up to 65° at the surface, for which the split-window equation has been developed in this study. The algorithm takes into account the angular dependence of both the atmospheric correction (due to the increase of the atmospheric optical path with angle) and the emissivity correction (since sea…

Impact of Initial Soil Temperature Derived from Remote Sensing and Numerical Weather Prediction Datasets on the Simulation of Extreme Heat Events

Extreme heat weather events have received increasing attention and has become of special importance as they can remarkably affect sectors as diverse as public health, energy consumption, water resources, natural biodiversity and agricultural production. In this regard, summer temperatures have become a parameter of essential interest under a framework of a hypothetical increase in the number of intense-heat conditions. Thus, their forecast is a crucial aspect bearing in mind a mitigation of the effects and impacts that these intense-heat situations could produce. The current work tries to reach a better understanding of these sorts of situations that are really common over the Western Medit…

The Dirichlet problem for the total variation flow

Suppose that Ω is an open bounded domain with a Lipschitz boundary. The purpose of this chapter is to study the Dirichlet problem $$ \left\{ \begin{gathered} \frac{{\partial u}} {{\partial t}} = div\left( {\frac{{Du}} {{\left| {Du} \right|}}} \right)in Q = \left( {0,\infty } \right) \times \Omega , \hfill \\ u\left( {t,x} \right) = \phi \left( x \right)on S = \left( {0,\infty } \right) \times \partial \Omega , \hfill \\ u\left( {0,x} \right) = u_0 \left( x \right)in x \in \Omega \hfill \\ \end{gathered} \right. $$ (5.1) where u0 ∈ L1(Ω) and ϕ ∈ L1 (∂Ω). This evolution equation is related to the gradient descent method used to solve the problem $$ \begin{gathered} Minimize \int {_\Omega \lef…

A methodology for obtaining the crop temperature from NOAA-9 AVHRR data

Abstract In this paper a methodology for obtaining the crop temperature from NOAA-9 AVHRR data has been developed, which is based on a theoretical model that permits interpreting the remote sensing temperature measurement in heterogeneous and rough surfaces. This procedure determines the crop temperature by evaluating prsviously: (1) the temperature difference between crop and ground, (2) the atmospheric and emissivity corrections, (3) the ground and vegetation emissi-vities in the AVHRR bands 4 (10-3-11-3 μm) and 5 (11 -5-12-5 μm), and (4) the proportion of ground in each pixel. We have applied this method to obtain a map of orange-tree temperatures for the Valencian region and satisfactor…