Publications

Kitsara, G; Papaioannou, G; Retalis, A; Paronis, D; Kerkides, P (2018). Estimation of air temperature and reference evapotranspiration using MODIS land surface temperature over Greece. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING, 39(3), 924-948.

Abstract
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), land surface temperature data, during daytime (LSTday) or night-time (LSTnight), were employed for predicting maximum (T-max) or minimum (T-min) air temperature measured at ground stations, respectively, in order to be used as alternative inputs in minimum data-based reference evapotranspiration (ET) models in 28 stations in Greece during the growing season (May-October). The deviations between daily LSTnight and T-min were found to be small, but they were greater between LSTday and Tmax. Furthermore, the temperature vegetation index (TVX) method was employed for achieving more accurate Tmax values from LSTday, after determining the normalized difference vegetation index of a full canopy (NDVImax). The TVX method was validated on 'temporal' basis, but when the method was tested spatially, the improvement on the Tmax estimates from LSTday was not encouraging, for being used operationally over Greece. Thus, LSTday or LSTnight MODIS data were used as inputs in three ET models [Hargreaves-Samani, Droogers-Allen, and Reference Evapotranspiration Model for Complex Terrains (REMCT)] and their estimations, as compared with ground-based Penman-Monteith estimates, indicated that the REMCT model achieved the most accurate ET predictions (r = 0.93, mean bias error = 0.44 mm day(-1) and root mean square error = 0.74 mm day(-1)), which can allow the spatial analysis of ET at higher spatial resolutions in areas with lack of ground temperature data.

DOI:
10.1080/01431161.2017.1395965

ISSN:
0143-1161