Determination of land surface temperature and soil moisture from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission/Microwave Imager remote sensing data

Abstract

An analytical algorithm for the determination of land surface temperature and soil moisture from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission/Microwave Imager (TRMM/TMI) remote sensing data has been developed in this study. The error analyses indicate that the uncertainties of the enrolled parameters will not cause serious errors in the proposed algorithm. By applying the proposed algorithm to TRMM/TMI remote sensing data collected during the Global Energy and Water Experiment (GEWEX) Asian Monsoon Experiment (GAME)/Tibet Intensive Observation Period field campaign in 1998 (IOP'98), the temporal and regional distributions of land surface temperature and volumetric soil moisture are evaluated over the central Tibetan plateau area. To validate the proposed method, the ground‐measured surface temperature and volumetric soil moisture are compared to TRMM/TMI‐derived land surface temperature and soil Fresnel reflectivity respectively. The results show that the estimated surface temperature is in good agreement with ground measurements; their difference and correlation coefficient are 0.52 ± 2.41 K and 0.80, respectively. A quasi‐linear relationship exists between estimated Fresnel reflectivity and ground‐measured volumetric soil moisture with a correlation coefficient 0.82. The land surface thermal status can also be clearly identified from the regional distribution of the estimated land surface temperature; the mountainous area and water bodies have a very lower surface temperature, while the river basin shows a higher surface temperature compared to the mountainous area. The southeastern part of the selected area has lower soil moisture, while the river basin exhibits high soil moisture. It is therefore concluded that the proposed algorithm is successful for the retrieval of land surface temperature and soil moisture using TRMM/TMI data over the study area.