Research Articles

MODIS-based estimation of air temperature of the Tibetan Plateau

Expand
  • State Key Laboratory of Resource and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Yao Yonghui (1975-), Ph.D, specialized in GIS/RS application and mountain environment. E-mail: yaoyh@lreis.ac.cn

Received date: 2013-01-05

  Revised date: 2013-02-04

  Online published: 2013-08-15

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41030528;No.41001278

Abstract

The immense and towering Tibetan Plateau acts as a heating source and, thus, deeply shapes the climate of the Eurasian continent and even the whole world. However, due to the scarcity of meteorological observation stations and very limited climatic data, little is quantitatively known about the heating effect and temperature pattern of the Tibetan Plateau. This paper collected time series of MODIS land surface temperature (LST) data, together with meteorological data of 137 stations and ASTER GDEM data for 2001-2007, to estimate and map the spatial distribution of monthly mean air temperatures in the Tibetan Plateau and its neighboring areas. Time series analysis and both ordinary linear regression (OLS) and geographical weighted regression (GWR) of monthly mean air temperature (Ta) with monthly mean land surface temperature (Ts) were conducted. Regression analysis shows that recorded Ta is rather closely related to Ts, and that the GWR estimation with MODIS Ts and altitude as independent variables, has a much better result with adjusted R2 > 0.91 and RMSE =1.13-1.53℃ than OLS estimation. For more than 80% of the stations, the Ta thus retrieved from Ts has residuals lower than 2℃. Analysis of the spatio-temporal pattern of retrieved Ta data showed that the mean temperature in July (the warmest month) at altitudes of 4500 m can reach 10℃. This may help explain why the highest timberline in the Northern Hemisphere is on the Tibetan Plateau.

Cite this article

YAO Yonghui, ZHANG Baiping . MODIS-based estimation of air temperature of the Tibetan Plateau[J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2013 , 23(4) : 627 -640 . DOI: 10.1007/s11442-013-1033-7

References

Anderson M C, Norman J M, Kustas W P et al., 2008. A thermal-based remote sensing technique for routine mapping of land-surface carbon, water and energy fluxes from field to regional scales. Remote Sensing of Environment, 112(12): 4227-4241.
Anderson S, 2002. An evaluation of spatial interpolation methods on air temperature in Phoenix, Arizona State. Department of Geography, Arizona State University. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.cobblestoneconcepts.com/ucgis2summer/anderson/anderson.htm.
Barrett E C, Curtis L F, 1976. Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing. New York: Chapman and Hall.
Barry R G, 1992. Mountain Weather and Climate. London and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Barry R G, 2008. Mountain Weather and Climate. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Brunsdon C, Fotheringham A, Charlton M, 1996. Geographically weighted regression: A method for exploring spatial non-stationarity. Geographical Analysis, 28(4): 281-298.
Cai Y, Li D, Tang M et al., 2003. Decadal temperature changes over Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in recent 50 years. Plateau Meteorology, 22(5): 464-471. (in Chinese)
Carlson T N, Buffum M J, 1989. On estimating total daily evapotranspiration from remote surface temperature measurements. Remote Sensing of Environment, 29(2): 197-207.
Connor S J, Thomson M C, Flasse S P et al., 1998. Environmental information systems in malaria risk mapping and epidemic forecasting. Disasters, 22(1): 39-56.
Cresswell M P, Morse A P, Thomson M C et al., 1999. Estimating surface air temperatures, from Meteosat land surface temperatures, using an empirical solar zenith angle model. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 20(6): 1125-1132.
Flenley J, 2007. Ultraviolet insolation and the tropical rainforest: Altitudinal variations, Quaternary and recent change, extinctions, and biodiversity. In: Flenley J R, Bush M B. Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change. UK: Jointly published with Praxis Publishing, 219-235
Florio E N, Lele S R, Chang Y C et al., 2004. Integrating AVHRR satellite data and NOAA ground observations to predict surface air temperature: A statistical approach. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25(15): 2979-2994.
Focks D A, Daniels E, Haile D G et al., 1995. A simulation-model of the epidemiology of urban dengue fever: Literature analysis, model development, preliminary validation, and samples of simulation results. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 53(5): 489-506.
Fotheringham A, Brunsdon C, Charlton M, 2002. Geographically Weighted Regression. New York: Wiley.
Fu B, 1983. Mountain Weather. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Goetz S J, Prince S D, Small J, 2000. Advances in satellite remote sensing of environmental variables for epidemiological applications. Advances in Parasitology, 47: 289-307.
Goward S N, 1989. Satellite bioclimatology. Journal of Climate, 2: 710-720.
Grubb P J, 1971. Interpretation of Massenerhebung Effect on Tropical Mountains. Nature, 229(5279): 44-45.
Guerschman J P, Van Dijk A I J M, Mattersdorf G et al., 2009. Scaling of potential evapotranspiration with MODIS data reproduces flux observations and catchment water balance observations across Australia. Journal of Hydrology, 369(1/2): 107-119.
Hao Z, Jiang W, Ju Q et al., 2010. The features of climate changes in the five river source regions of the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 32(6): 1130-1136.
Hijmans R J, Cameron S E, Parra J L et al., 2005. Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas. International Journal of Climatology, 25(15): 1965-1978.
Holtmeier F-K, 2003. Mountain Timberlines: Ecology, Patchiness, and Dynamics. Dordrecht and Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
IPCC, 2001. Climate change 2001: The scientific basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Retrieved from the World Wide Web:http://www.grida.no/publications/other/ipcc_tar/: 881.
Jin M, Dickinson R E, 2000. A generalized algorithm for retrieving cloudy sky skin temperature from satellite thermal infrared radiances. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105(22): 27037-27047.
Jones P, Jedlovec G, Suggs R, Haines S, 2004. Using MODIS LST to estimate minimum air temperatures at night. 13th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography. Norfolk, VA: AMS 4.13: From the World Wide Web: http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/79017.pdf.
Li S, Xu L, Guo Y et al., 2006. Change of annual air temperature over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during recent 34 years. Journal of Desert Research, 26(1): 27-35. (in Chinese)
Li X, Chen G, Lu L, 2003. Comparison study of spatial interpolation methods of air temperature over Qinghai- Xizang Plateau. Plateau Meteorology, 22(6): 565-574. (in Chinese)
Li Z, He Y, Xin H et al., 2010. Spatio-temporal variations of temperature and precipitation in Mts. Hengduan Region during 1960-2008. Acta Geographica Sinica, 65(5): 563-579. (in Chinese)
Miehe G, Miehe S, Vogel J et al., 2007. Highest Treeline in the Northern Hemisphere Found in Southern Tibet. Mountain Research and Development, 27(2): 169-173.
Mostovoy G V, King R L, Reddy K R et al., 2006. Statistical estimation of daily maximum and minimum air temperatures from MODIS LST data over the state of Mississippi. GIScience and Remote Sensing, 43(1): 78-110.
Prihodko L, Goward S N, 1997. Estimation of air temperature from remotely sensed surface observations. Remote Sensing of Environment, 60(3): 335-346.
Prince S D, Goetz S J, Dubayah R O et al., 1998. Inference of surface and air temperature, atmospheric precipitable water and vapor pressure deficit using advanced very high-resolution radiometer satellite observations: Comparison with field observations. Journal of Hydrology, 213(1-4): 230-249.
Propastin P, Kappas M, Erasmi S, 2008. Application of geographically weighted regression to investigate the impact of scale on prediction uncertainty by modelling relationship between vegetation and climate. International Journal of Spatial Data Infrastructures Research, 3: 73-94.
Quervain A D, 1904. Die Hebung der atmosphärischen lsothermenin der Schweizer Alpen und ihre Beziehung zu deren Höhengrenzen. Gerlands Beitr. Geophys., 6: 481-533.
Ren Y, Zhang X, Peng L, 2010. Construction and analysis of mean air temperature anomaly series for the Qinghai- Xizang Plateau during 1951-2006. Plateau Meteorology, 29(3): 572-578. (in Chinese)
Seguin B, 1991. Use of surface temperature in agrometeorology. In: Toselli F ed. Applications of Remote Sensing to Agrometeorology. Boston: Kluwer Academic Press, 221-240.
Shu S, Wang Y, Chu H, 2009. Spatial distribution of temperature in China: Geographic and orographic influences. Journal of Nanjing University (Natural Sciences), 45(3): 334-342. (in Chinese)
Shu Y, Stisen S, Jensen K H et al., 2011. Estimation of regional evapotranspiration over the North China Plain using geostationary satellite data. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation,13(2): 192-206.
Smith W L, Leslie L M, Diak G R et al., 1988. The integration of meteorological satellite imagery and numerical dynamical forecast models. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society of London, 324(1579): 317-323.
Stisen S, Sandholt I, Norgaard A et al., 2007. Estimation of diurnal air temperature using MSG SEVIRI data in West Africa. Remote Sensing of Environment, 110(2): 262-274.
Troll C, 1973. The upper timberlines in different climatic zones. Arctic and Alpine Research, 5(3): 3-18.
Vancutsem C, Ceccato P, Dinku T et al., 2010. Evaluation of MODIS land surface temperature data to estimate air temperature in different ecosystems over Africa. Remote Sensing of Environment, 114: 449-465.
Vogt J, Viau A A, Paquet F, 1997. Mapping regional air temperature fields using satellite derived surface skin temperatures. International Journal of Climatology, 17(14): 1559-1579.
Wan Y, Zhang W, Xiao Z, 2009. Spatio-temporal variation characteristics of air temperature in longitudinal ridge-gorge region of Yunnan in recent century. Journal of Natural Disasters, 18(5): 183-189. (in Chinese)
Wang Y, Zhang B, Chen L et al., 2008. Relationship between the atmospheric heat source over Tibetan Plateau and the heat source and general circulation over East Asia. Chinese Science Bulletin, 53(21): 3387-3394.
Willmott C J, Robeson S M, 1995. Climatologically aided interpolation (CAI) of terrestrial air temperature. International Journal of Climatology, 15(2): 221-229.
Willmott C J, Robeson S M, Feddema J J, 1991. Influence of spatially variable instrument networks on climatic averages. Geophysical Research Letter, 18(12): 2249-2251.
Yao Y, Zhang B, 2012. MODIS-based air temperature estimation in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and neighboring areas. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 22(1): 152-166.
Yao Y, Zhang B, Han F, 2011. MODIS-based air temperature estimation in the Hengduan Mountains and its spatio- temporal analysis. Acta Geographica Sinica, 66(7): 917-927. (in Chinese)
Yeh D, 1982. Some aspects of the thermal influences of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau on the atmospheric circulation. Archives for Meteorology, Geophysics, and Bioclimatology Series, A31(3): 205-225.
Yen S-M, Chiou C-R, Chang K-T, 2008. Modeling the species distribution of three dominant coniferous species in Taiwan. Taiwan Journal for Science, 23(2): 165-181.
Zhang J G, Wang Y L, Ji Y S et al., 2011. Melting and shrinkage of cryosphere in Tibet and its impact on the ecological environment. Journal of Arid Land, 3(4): 292-299.

Outlines

/