Prediction of daily amplitudes of canopy temperatures using satellite information

It is supposed that under clear sky and calm weather conditions the daily amplitude of the canopy temperature is determined by the sum of the net radiation from sunrise to noon and the thermal inertia of the air, plant and soil system. Based on satellite observations all of the three parameters can be estimated. In the paper the thermal inertia is produced as the ratio of the net radiation at 8.00 UTC (9.00 UTC in winter time) to the daily amplitude of canopy temperatures in the territory of Hungary for 2-2 days of three seasons (summer, winter and transient periods). While the net radiation is evaluated by means of a radiative model with reliance on satellite cloud information, the canopy temperatures are derived from infrared satellite data. In order to make the inertia values comparable, they have been normalized. Assuming the inertia to be constant under the mentioned conditions within a season we attempted to predict the daily amplitude of canopy temperatures.