Spatial-temporal characteristics of land surface temperature in Tianshan Mountains area based on MODIS data

Based on the MODIS/MOD11A2 data from 2001 to 2013, this paper researched the characteristics of land surface temperature (LST) of Tianshan Mountains area. The results indicated that the average of LST in the study area was 1.73 °C , and LST was much higher in the east than in the west. The inter-annual variation range of LST in the northwest was significantly large than in other regions, with the largest above 0.55 °C in some areas. The LST tended to slowly increase with time, and the increase rate was 0.147 °C . a-1. It showed a significant seasonal difference, and the fluctuation of winter was significantly larger than in other seasons with the coefficient of variation reaching 12.7%. The LST difference of day time was greater than that at night, and that in summer was greater than in other seasons. The LST differed with land use types, and the fitted results were inconsistent between the LST and NDVI. With the increase of NDVI of woodland and grassland, the LST decreased dramatically. The LST of constructi