Abstract
The land surface temperature (LST) in arid regions is a primary controller of many ecological processes. Consequently, we have developed a framework for detection of LST change on a regional scale using data sets covering all deserts of southern California from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor. The Breaks for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) methodology was applied to MODIS 1-km monthly LST data from the years 2000 to 2018 to estimate significant time series shifts (breakpoints) and gradual trends. Area-wide results showed five times more positive LST breakpoints (abrupt temperature warming events) than negative (surface cooling) breakpoints. Cross-correlations with high rainfall periods around Mojave dry lake playas, and comparison with timing of wildfire burns for breakpoint patterns, showed that abrupt shifts in LST had the strongest response to these controllers. We detected negative LST (abrupt cooling) breakpoints as consistently associated with the construction of new solar energy facilities. Over the majority of the study area, BFAST results showed warming LST trends between the years 2000 and 2018. The western-most margins of the study area showed consistent widespread warming trends, whereas the eastern portions of the Mojave and Lower Colorado Deserts showed a mix of positive and neutral LST trends. Long-term cooling LST trends were detected only in some of the largest dry lake formations in the Antelope Valley, Death Valley, and Bristol, Cadiz, and Danby playas.
Highlights
Long-term changes in land surface temperature can influence interacting ecological and geochemical processes in desert landscapes, including plant cover distributions, activity of wildlife populations, soil microbial activity, evapotranspiration, and trace gas emissions [1]
The Land Surface Temperature (LST) and emissivity 8-day composite data (MOD11A2) are retrieved at 1-km ground resolution by a generalized split-window algorithm [18], in which emissivities in Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) bands 31 and 32 are estimated from land cover types, atmospheric column water vapor, and lower boundary air surface temperature separated into tractable sub-ranges for optimal retrieval [19]
In the day/night algorithm, daytime and nighttime land surface temperature (LST) and surface emissivities are retrieved from pairs of day and night MODIS observations in seven thermal infrared (TIR) bands
Summary
Long-term changes in land surface temperature can influence interacting ecological and geochemical processes in desert landscapes, including plant cover distributions, activity of wildlife populations, soil microbial activity, evapotranspiration, and trace gas emissions [1]. Vegetative cover, water content, bulk density, and a host of other factors affect how much heat from solar irradiance a soil can absorb or re-emit [2]. Land cover disturbance from renewable energy development in arid ecosystems is receiving increasing attention due to potential impacts on protected area conservation, endangered species, and air quality [3]. New solar energy facilities have been built in parts of southern. California’s Mojave and Lower Colorado Deserts under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation. The DRECP covers parts of seven California counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego.
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