Advanced Remote Sensing, 2nd Edition

7.2. The estimation of average land surface temperature

Although several definitions of land surface temperature (LST) are listed in Section 7.1.1, the average temperature of a pixel is the only quantity that can be acquired by remote sensing. For conciseness, this temperature is hereinafter referred to as the LST. At the global and regional scales, LST is mainly detected by infrared and passive microwave sensors. LST detection by infrared thermal sensors provides a greater spatial resolution, ranging from 90   m for ASTER to 1   km for MODIS to several dozen kilometers for meteorological satellites. As a result of the limited penetration capacity of infrared radiation, infrared LST can be acquired only during clear sky conditions. In contrast, ...