Global Land Surface Temperature (LST), version 1, from Stationary Sensors, 2009 – present

The Land Surface Temperature (LST) product is retrieved from a constellation of geostationary (GEO) satellites: Meteosat Second Generation (MSG2); Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-13); and Multi-Function Transport Satellite (MTSAT2). LST, which is estimated from Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) brightness temperatures of atmospheric window channels within the infrared range, is the radiative skin temperature of land surface. LST is determined by the land surface energy balance and varies rapidly because of the low thermal inertia of the land surface. LST may relate to the uppermost vegetation canopy or be a mixture of canopy and ground surface temperatures. However, all of these surfaces have low heat capacity so their temperatures respond rapidly to variations in incoming solar radiation due to cloud cover variations, aerosol variations, and the diurnal variation of insolation. This global data product is provided on 1-hourly temporal resolution at 5 km spatial resolution in 10x10 degree tiles. It is provided within 3 days after end of synthesis period. The product is displayed in a regular latitude/longitude grid (plate carrée) with the ellipsoïd WGS 1984 (Terrestrial radius=6378km) in 36 tiles in longitude and 18 in latitude for land areas observed with view angle lower than 70 degrees in clear sky conditions. In order to facilitate the users, the global products are also disseminated in specific continental geographical areas. A Product User Manual and a Validation Report are available.