Interannual variation of the surface temperature of tropical forests from satellite observations
Abstract
Land surface temperatures (LSTs) within tropical forests contribute to climate variations.
However, observational data are very limited in such regions. This study used passive
microwave remote sensing data from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and
the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS), providing observations under
all weather conditions, to investigate the LST over the Amazon and Congo rainforests.
The SSM/I and SSMIS data were collected from 1996 to 2012. The morning and afternoon
observations from passive microwave remote sensing facilitate the investigation of
the interannual changes of LST anomalies on a diurnal basis. As a result of the variability
of cloud cover and the corresponding reduction of solar radiation, the afternoon LST
anomalies tend to vary more than the morning LST anomalies. The dominant spatial and
temporal patterns for interseasonal variations of the LST anomalies over the tropical
rainforest were analyzed. The impacts of droughts and El Niños on this LST were also
investigated. Differences between early morning and late afternoon LST anomalies were
identified by the remote sensing product, with the morning LST anomalies controlled
by humidity (according to comparisons with the National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data).
Type
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10239Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1155/2016/4741390Publication Info
Gao, H; Zhang, S; Fu, R; Li, W; & Dickinson, RE (2015). Interannual variation of the surface temperature of tropical forests from satellite
observations. Advances in Meteorology, 2016. 10.1155/2016/4741390. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10239.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Wenhong Li
Associate Professor of Climate
Dr. Li's research interests focus primarily on climate dynamics, land-atmosphere interaction,
hydroclimatology, and climate modeling. Her current research is to understand how
the hydrological cycle changes in the current and future climate and their impacts
on the ecosystems, subtropical high variability and change, unforced global temperature variability,
and climate and health issues.

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