National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Note: This paper provides information related to the comparison of the LST products with some in situ observations. However, as stated in the paper, "this study cannot be considered to be validation of the MODIS instrument or LST algorithm, but rather an evaluation or comparison".

MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperatures (LSTs) are compared to in situ observations during the Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP). The purpose is to test the utility of global enhanced station data to provide additional information on the consistency of large volumes of remotely sensed data. While comparisons are limited by unresolved spatial and temporal representativeness, many of the comparisons are quite favorable, especially in mid-latitude regions. We note the extent of cloud contamination in the data product, and also some biases that may vary seasonally. Upscaling to 25km, as would be needed for global model comparisons or some mesoscale models, did not overly change the comparison results. The veracity of remotely sensed observations is important to identify and understand as these data begin to be applied to research questions.