Derivation of Nighttime Urban Air Temperatures Using a Satellite Thermal Image

2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 863-872 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Y. Fung ◽  
K. S. Lam ◽  
Janet Nichol ◽  
Man Sing Wong

Abstract The aim of this study is to characterize the urban heat island (UHI) intensity in Hong Kong. The first objective is to explore the UHI intensity in Hong Kong by using the mobile transverse and remote sensing techniques. The second objective is to produce a satellite-derived air temperature image by integrating satellite remote sensing with a mobile survey, the methodology involved in making simultaneous ground measurements when the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite made an overpass. The average UHI intensity of Hong Kong was about 2°–3.5°C, although a very high value of 12°C UHI was observed on a calm winter night by ASTER. The satellite-derived surface temperature was compared with the in situ measurements. The bias was found to be only about 1.1°C. A good correlation was also found between the in situ surface and air temperature pair of readings at nighttime on 31 January 2007. The linear regression lines of temperatures in urban and suburban areas were then used to convert the satellite-derived surface temperatures into air temperatures. The satellite-derived air temperatures showed a good correlation with temperatures observed by 12 fixed stations. It is possible to derive the nighttime air temperature from the satellite surface temperature on calm and clear winter nights.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alden C. Adolph ◽  
Mary R. Albert ◽  
Dorothy K. Hall

Abstract. As rapid warming of the Arctic occurs, it is imperative that climate indicators such as temperature be monitored over large areas to understand and predict the effects of climate changes. Temperatures are traditionally tracked using in situ 2 m air temperatures, but in remote locations where few ground-based measurements exist, such as on the Greenland Ice Sheet, temperatures over large areas are assessed using remote sensing techniques. Because of the presence of surface-based temperature inversions in ice-covered areas, differences between 2 m air temperature and the temperature of the actual snow surface (referred to as skin temperature) can be significant and are particularly relevant when considering validation and application of remote sensing temperature data. We present results from a field campaign extending from 8 June through 18 July 2015, near Summit Station in Greenland to study surface temperature using the following measurements: skin temperature measured by an infrared (IR) sensor, thermochrons, and thermocouples; 2 m air temperature measured by a NOAA meteorological station; and a MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface temperature product. Our data indicate that 2 m air temperature is often significantly higher than snow skin temperature measured in-situ, and this finding may account for apparent biases in previous surface temperature studies of MODIS products that used 2 m air temperature for validation. This inversion is present during summer months when incoming solar radiation and wind speed are both low. As compared to our in-situ IR skin temperature measurements, after additional cloud masking, the MOD/MYD11 Collection 6 surface-temperature standard product has an RMSE of 1.0 °C, spanning a range of temperatures from −35 °C to −5 °C. For our study area and time series, MODIS surface temperature products agree with skin surface temperatures better than previous studies indicated, especially at temperatures below −20 °C where other studies found a significant cold bias. The apparent cold bias present in others’ comparison of 2 m air temperature and MODIS surface temperature is perhaps a result of the near-surface temperature inversion that our data demonstrate. Further investigation of how in-situ IR skin temperatures compare to MODIS surface temperature at lower temperatures (below −35 °C) is warranted to determine if this cold bias does indeed exist.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 74-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail I. Varentsov ◽  
Mikhail Y. Grishchenko ◽  
Hendrik Wouters

This study compares three popular approaches to quantify the urban heat island (UHI) effect in Moscow megacity in a summer season (June-August 2015). The first approach uses the measurements of the near-surface air temperature obtained from weather stations, the second is based on remote sensing from thermal imagery of MODIS satellites, and the third is based on the numerical simulations with the mesoscale atmospheric model COSMO-CLM coupled with the urban canopy scheme TERRA_URB. The first approach allows studying the canopy-layer UHI (CLUHI, or anomaly of a near- surface air temperature), while the second allows studying the surface UHI (SUHI, or anomaly of a land surface temperature), and both types of the UHI could be simulated by the atmospheric model. These approaches were compared in the daytime, evening and nighttime conditions. The results of the study highlight a substantial difference between the SUHI and CLUHI in terms of the diurnal variation and spatial structure. The strongest differences are found at the daytime, at which the SUHI reaches the maximal intensity (up to 10°С) whereas the CLUHI reaches the minimum intensity (1.5°С). However, there is a stronger consistency between CLUHU and SUHI at night, when their intensities converge to 5–6°С. In addition, the nighttime CLUHI and SUHI have similar monocentric spatial structure with a temperature maximum in the city center. The presented findings should be taken into account when interpreting and comparing the results of UHI studies, based on the different approaches. The mesoscale model reproduces the CLUHI-SUHI relationships and provides good agreement with in situ observations on the CLUHI spatiotemporal variations (with near-zero biases for daytime and nighttime CLUHI intensity and correlation coefficients more than 0.8 for CLUHI spatial patterns). However, the agreement of the simulated SUHI with the remote sensing data is lower than agreement of the simulated CLUHI with in situ measurements. Specifically, the model tends to overestimate the daytime SUHI intensity. These results indicate a need for further in-depth investigation of the model behavior and SUHI–CLUHI relationships in general.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 907-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alden C. Adolph ◽  
Mary R. Albert ◽  
Dorothy K. Hall

Abstract. As rapid warming of the Arctic occurs, it is imperative that climate indicators such as temperature be monitored over large areas to understand and predict the effects of climate changes. Temperatures are traditionally tracked using in situ 2 m air temperatures and can also be assessed using remote sensing techniques. Remote sensing is especially valuable over the Greenland Ice Sheet, where few ground-based air temperature measurements exist. Because of the presence of surface-based temperature inversions in ice-covered areas, differences between 2 m air temperature and the temperature of the actual snow surface (referred to as “skin” temperature) can be significant and are particularly relevant when considering validation and application of remote sensing temperature data. We present results from a field campaign extending from 8 June to 18 July 2015, near Summit Station in Greenland, to study surface temperature using the following measurements: skin temperature measured by an infrared (IR) sensor, 2 m air temperature measured by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorological station, and a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface temperature product. Our data indicate that 2 m air temperature is often significantly higher than snow skin temperature measured in situ, and this finding may account for apparent biases in previous studies of MODIS products that used 2 m air temperature for validation. This inversion is present during our study period when incoming solar radiation and wind speed are both low. As compared to our in situ IR skin temperature measurements, after additional cloud masking, the MOD/MYD11 Collection 6 surface temperature standard product has an RMSE of 1.0 ∘C and a mean bias of −0.4 ∘C, spanning a range of temperatures from −35 to −5 ∘C (RMSE = 1.6 ∘C and mean bias = −0.7 ∘C prior to cloud masking). For our study area and time series, MODIS surface temperature products agree with skin surface temperatures better than previous studies indicated, especially at temperatures below −20 ∘C, where other studies found a significant cold bias. We show that the apparent cold bias present in other comparisons of 2 m air temperature and MODIS surface temperature may be a result of the near-surface temperature inversion. Further investigation of how in situ IR skin temperatures compare to MODIS surface temperature at lower temperatures (below −35 ∘C) is warranted to determine whether a cold bias exists for those temperatures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Ronny Richter ◽  
Christopher Hutengs ◽  
Christian Wirth ◽  
Lutz Bannehr ◽  
Michael Vohland

Canopy temperatures are important for understanding tree physiology, ecology, and their cooling potential, which provides a valuable ecosystem service, especially in urban environments. Linkages between tree species composition in forest stands and air temperatures remain challenging to quantify, as the establishment and maintenance of onsite sensor networks is time-consuming and costly. Remotely-sensed land surface temperature (LST) observations can potentially acquire spatially distributed crown temperature data more efficiently. We analyzed how tree species modify canopy air temperature at an urban floodplain forest (Leipzig, Germany) site equipped with a detailed onsite sensor network, and explored whether mono-temporal thermal remote sensing observations (August, 2016) at different spatial scales could be used to model air temperatures at the tree crown level. Based on the sensor-network data, we found interspecific differences in summer air temperature to vary temporally and spatially, with mean differences between coldest and warmest tree species of 1 °C, and reaching maxima of up to 4 °C for the upper and lower canopy region. The detectability of species-specific differences in canopy surface temperature was found to be similarly feasible when comparing high-resolution airborne LST data to the airborne LST data aggregated to 30 m pixel size. To realize a spatial resolution of 30 m with regularly acquired data, we found the downscaling of Landsat 8 thermal data to be a valid alternative to airborne data, although detected between-species differences in surface temperature were less expressed. For the modeling of canopy air temperatures, all LST data up to the 30 m level were similarly appropriate. We thus conclude that satellite-derived LST products could be recommended for operational use to detect and monitor tree species effects on temperature regulation at the crown scale.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Oliveira ◽  
António Lopes ◽  
Ezequiel Correia ◽  
Samuel Niza ◽  
Amílcar Soares

Lisbon is a European Mediterranean city, greatly exposed to heatwaves (HW), according to recent trends and climate change prospects. Considering the Atlantic influence, air temperature observations from Lisbon’s mesoscale network are used to investigate the interactions between background weather and the urban thermal signal (UTS) in summer. Days are classified according to the prevailing regional wind direction, and hourly UTS is compared between HW and non-HW conditions. Northern-wind days predominate, revealing greater maximum air temperatures (up to 40 °C) and greater thermal amplitudes (approximately 10 °C), and account for 37 out of 49 HW days; southern-wind days have milder temperatures, and no HWs occur. Results show that the wind direction groups are significantly different. While southern-wind days have minor UTS variations, northern-wind days have a consistent UTS daily cycle: a diurnal urban cooling island (UCI) (often lower than –1.0 °C), a late afternoon peak urban heat island (UHI) (occasionally surpassing 4.0 °C), and a stable nocturnal UHI (1.5 °C median intensity). UHI/UCI intensities are not significantly different between HW and non-HW conditions, although the synoptic influence is noted. Results indicate that, in Lisbon, the UHI intensity does not increase during HW events, although it is significantly affected by wind. As such, local climate change adaptation strategies must be based on scenarios that account for the synergies between potential changes in regional air temperature and wind.


Author(s):  
Richard H. Bennett ◽  
Huon Li ◽  
Michael D. Richardson ◽  
Peter Fleischer ◽  
Douglas N. Lambert ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elânia Daniele Silva Araújo

A intensa urbanização causa diversos problemas de natureza ambiental, climática e social. O crescimento não planejado da população urbana e a remoção da vegetação são fatores que intensificam estes problemas. As temperaturas na cidade são significativamente mais quentes do que as suas zonas rurais circundantes devido às atividades humanas. As intensas mudanças espaciais em áreas urbanas, promovem significativo aumento na temperatura, causando o chamado efeito de Ilha de Calor Urbano (ICU). Campina Grande é uma cidade de tamanho médio que experimentou um crescimento desordenado, desde o tempo do comércio de algodão e, como qualquer cidade de grande ou médio porte, sofre alterações em seu espaço. Dessa forma, este estudo teve por objetivo analisar a variabilidade espaço-temporal da temperatura da superfície (Ts) e detectar ICU, através de técnicas de sensoriamento remoto. Para o efeito, foram utilizadas imagens dos satélites Landsat 5 e 8, dos anos de 1995, 2007 e 2014. Aumentos da Ts foram bem evidentes e foram detectadas duas ICU. Campina Grande mostra um padrão de tendência: o crescimento urbano não planejado é responsável por mudanças no ambiente físico e na forma e estrutura espacial da cidade, o que se reflete sobre o microclima e, em última análise, na qualidade de vida das pessoas.   ABSTRACT The intense urbanization causes several problems of environmental, climate and social nature. The unplanned growth of urban population and the vegetation removal are factors that deepen these problems. Temperatures in the city are significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. Large spatial changes in urban areas promote significant increase in temperature, causing the so-called Urban Heat Island effect (UHI). Campina Grande is a medium-sized town that experienced an uncontrolled growth since the time of the cotton trade and like any large or medium-sized city, undergoes changes in its space. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze surface temperature spatial and temporal variability and to detect potential UHI, through remote sensing techniques. Spectral images from Landsat 5 and 8 satellites were used. Using images from years 1995, 2007 and 2014, considerable increases in temperature were identified and two UHI were recognize. Campina Grande shows a trend pattern: the urban unplanned growth is responsible for changes in the physical environment and in the form and spatial structure of the city, reflecting on people quality of life. Keywords: change detection, surface temperature, heat islands, urbanization.   


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