Abstract
Land surface temperature (LST) is a comprehensive embodiment of surface energy balance and land surface processes. The spatial and temporal variation of LST is of great significance for studying surface characteristics and climate change. In this study, the spatiotemporal variations of LST in China from 2003 to 2018 is examined by using the continuous and derivable annual temperature cycle model. The trends of the annual mean and annual amplitude of LST is detected using the Mann–Kendall test and Theil–Sen estimator. In addition, we have further revealed the correlation between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and LST in different land cover types. The results show that the annual mean LST presents a spatial distribution pattern of high values in the southern regions and low values in the northern regions and that the factors of altitude and land cover type also affect the LST's spatial distribution. The annual amplitude of the LST presents a spatial distribution pattern of high values in the northern regions and low values in the southern regions. In the majority of instances, the phase of LST in China was positioned between the 175th and 205th day of each year. Both the annual mean and annual amplitude of the LST have a mean increasing trend in China with a rate of 0.02 K/year, and the areas with large significant changes accounted for 8.6% out of the total area, with a mean rate of approximately 0.05 K/year, in this period. Significant changes in the annual mean LST were correlated with the change in vegetation coverage and the impact of land cover types on the interannual variations of LST is also determined in this study. While the increase in vegetation coverage in barren land exhibits a clearly recognizable upward trend in the annual mean LST, the improved vegetation coverage in the grassland region presents a downward trend in annual mean LST.
Highlights
R EGIONAL and global climate change has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers over the past century
As the spatial pattern of the annual mean Land surface temperature (LST) in China is very similar from year to year, only six years of data were selected for presenting the results of this study
The solar radiation energy received by the ground decreases. This results in the overall distribution pattern of annual mean LST with high values in the southern regions and low values in the northern regions
Summary
R EGIONAL and global climate change has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers over the past century. The rise in temperature is a topic of major concern in the context of climate change, and it shares a similar temporal and spatial heterogeneity with climate change [1]. The study of spatiotemporal variation in temperature is important. Many previous studies have focused on the temporal and spatial changes of surface air temperature. Ji et al [2] analyzed the evolution of land surface air temperature trends by using data from the Climatic Research Unit. Kagawa-Viviani and Giambelluca [3] characterized the spatiotemporal patterns of surface air temperature in the Hawaiian Islands. Research exploring the driving factors of surface air temperature trends [4] and observing the differences between air temperature and skin temperature are significant in this respect [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
