Project Number: 5347-13660-006-02
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Aug 23, 2004
End Date: May 31, 2009

Objective:
The research seeks development of surface temperature observations sufficiently accurate for land surface model assimilation. The main objectives are: (1) Create and assimilate optimized and gridded hourly surface temperatures from recent satellite archives; (2) assess the adequacy of the operational MODIS LST product for model data assimilation; and (3) test dynamically constructed surface temperature products utilizing current MODIS and geostationary satellite data.

Approach:
The multiscale surface temperature product for land surface assimilation modeling, consisting of hourly 1-4km resolution data sets, will be derived from the combination of MODIS and geostationary thermal infrared observations. Accuracy of surface temperature retrievals will be verified by 4-6 site specific studies using high resolution ASTER observations in conjunction with ground-based temperature observations. Product will be assimilated into a 1-year run of the Community Land Model (CLM) land surface model and compared with results obtained by the current CLM simulations which do not assimilate land surface temperature. Data will be made available to the modeling community. Formerly 5347-13660-005-03R (3/07).