Global Land Surface Temperature From the Along‐Track Scanning Radiometers

The Leicester Along‐Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) and Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) Processor for LAnd Surface Temperature (LASPLAST) provides global land surface temperature (LST) products from thermal infrared radiance data. In this paper, the state‐of‐the‐art version of LASPLAST, as deployed in the GlobTemperature project, is described and applied to data from the Advanced Along‐Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR). The LASPLAST retrieval formulation for LST is a nadir‐only, two‐channel, split‐window algorithm, based on biome classification, fractional vegetation, and across‐track water vapor dependences. It incorporates globally robust retrieval coefficients derived using highly sampled atmosphere profiles. LASPLAST benefits from appropriate spatial resolution auxiliary information and a new probabilistic‐based cloud flagging algorithm. For the first time for a satellite‐derived LST product, pixel‐level uncertainties characterized in terms of random, locally correlated, and systematic components are provided. The new GlobTemperature GT_ATS_2P Version 1.0 product has been validated for 1 year of AATSR data (2009) against in situ measurements acquired from “gold standard reference” stations: Gobabeb, Namibia, and Evora, Portugal; seven Surface Radiation Budget stations, and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement station at Southern Great Plains. These data show average absolute biases for the GT_ATS_2P Version 1.0 product of 1.00 K in the daytime and 1.08 K in the nighttime. The improvements in data provenance including better accuracy, fully traceable retrieval coefficients, quantified uncertainty, and more detailed information in the new harmonized format of the GT_ATS_2P product will allow for more significant exploitation of the historical LST data record from the ATSRs and a valuable near‐real‐time service from the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometers (SLSTRs). Key Points Presentation of the state‐of‐the‐art Leicester ATSR and SLSTR Processor for LAnd Surface Temperature (LASPLAST) AATSR LST product with improved data provenance: better accuracy, fully traceable retrieval coefficients, and quantified uncertainty Validation of the AATSR LST data against in situ measurements acquired from 10 “gold standard reference” stations shows low bias