Use of satellite land surface temperatures in the EUSTACE global surface air temperature analysis

Abstract:

EUSTACE (EU Surface Temperatures for All Corners of Earth) is a Horizon2020 project that will produce a spatially complete, near-surface air temperature (NSAT) analysis for the globe for every day since 1850. The analysis will be based on both satellite and in situ surface temperature observations over land, sea, ice and lakes, which will be combined using state-of-the-art statistical methods. The use of satellite data will enable the EUSTACE analysis to offer improved estimates of NSAT in regions that are poorly observed in situ, compared with existing in-situ based analyses. This presentation illustrates how satellite land surface temperature (LST) data – sourced from the European Space Agency (ESA) Data User Element (DUE) GlobTemperature project - will be used in EUSTACE. Satellite LSTs represent the temperature of the Earth’s skin, which can differ from the corresponding NSAT by several degrees or more, particularly during the hottest part of the day. Therefore the first challenge is to develop an approach to estimate global NSAT from satellite observations. Two methods will be trialled in EUSTACE, both of which are summarised here: an established empirical regression-based approach for predicting NSAT from satellite data, and a new method whereby NSAT is calculated from LST and other parameters using a physics-based model. The second challenge is in estimating the uncertainties for the satellite NSAT estimates, which will determine how these data are used in the final blended satellite-in situ analysis. This is also important as a key component of EUSTACE is in delivering accurate uncertainty information to users. An overview of the methods to estimate the satellite NSATs is also included in this presentation.