Evaluation of Land Surface Temperature Operationally Retrieved from Korean Geostationary Satellite (COMS) Data

A-Ra Cho,Myoung-Seok Suh

doi:10.3390/rs5083951

A-Ra Cho, Myoung-Seok Suh

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs5083951

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Journal: Remote sensing	Publication Date: Aug 9, 2013
Citations: 26	License type: CC BY 3.0

Affiliation: Kongju National University

Abstract

We evaluated the precision of land surface temperature (LST) operationally retrieved from the Korean multipurpose geostationary satellite, Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS). The split-window (SW)-type retrieval algorithm was developed through radiative transfer model simulations under various atmospheric profiles, satellite zenith angles, surface emissivity values and surface lapse rate conditions using Moderate Resolution Atmospheric Transmission version 4 (MODTRAN4). The estimation capabilities of the COMS SW (CSW) LST algorithm were evaluated for various impacting factors, and the retrieval accuracy of COMS LST data was evaluated with collocated Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST data. The surface emissivity values for two SW channels were generated using a vegetation cover method. The CSW algorithm estimated the LST distribution reasonably well (averaged bias = 0.00 K, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) = 1.41 K, correlation coefficient = 0.99); however, the estimation capabilities of the CSW algorithm were significantly impacted by large brightness temperature differences and surface lapse rates. The CSW algorithm reproduced spatiotemporal variations of LST comparing well to MODIS LST data, irrespective of what month or time of day the data were collected from. The one-year evaluation results with MODIS LST data showed that the annual mean bias, RMSE and correlation coefficient for the CSW algorithm were −1.009 K, 2.613 K and 0.988, respectively.

Highlights

Land surface temperature (LST) is a key variable used in a wide range of applications, such as in the monitoring of the surface radiation budget, climate change, the hydrological cycle and ecosystems [1,2,3,4]
We developed an SW-type LST retrieval algorithm from the initial data collected by the Korean geostationary satellite, COMS
The algorithm, termed COMS SW (CSW), was developed through radiative transfer model simulations under various atmospheric profiles derived from TIGR data, satellite zenith angles (SZAs), surface emissivity values and surface lapse rate conditions using MODTRAN4

Summary

Introduction

Land surface temperature (LST) is a key variable used in a wide range of applications, such as in the monitoring of the surface radiation budget, climate change, the hydrological cycle and ecosystems [1,2,3,4]. Remote sensing instruments onboard satellites working in the thermal infrared channels are the only available operational systems capable of collecting cost-effective LST data at spatial and temporal resolutions that are appropriate for various applications [5,6,7,8,9]. Similar to the retrieval of sea-surface temperature (SST), LST estimations from satellite remote sensing data are typically obtained from one or more thermal infrared channels located in the atmospheric window region of 8–13 μm. Among the various types of LST retrieval methods available, the SW technique is one of the most widely used methods for retrieving LST from both polar orbiting and geostationary satellite data [1,2,3,6,10]

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Conclusion