How useful are the lake surface temperature estimates from a geostationary satellite (Himawari-8) to detect seasonal and diurnal changes?

ABSTRACT

The current geostationary satellite images have a time resolution of minutes. It is not clear how useful they are for detecting diurnal and seasonal changes. We tested this by comparing lake surface temperatures (LSTs) from Himawari-8 Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) images with in situ measurements in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan, for one year. LST products of the Sentinel-3 satellites were also compared. We found that instantaneous LSTs can be estimated with an root mean square difference (RMSE) of 0.6°C. A large amount of data (N = 10²–10³) is available for each month, but N differs greatly in the range of 216–2771. A good agreement (RMSE of 0.9°C) was found between monthly mean LSTs from Himawari-8 and in situ measurements, and it is better than the RMSE of 1.2–1.7°C found for the Sentinel-3 LST products. The diurnal change detection was more difficult due to insufficient data numbers around noon. Practical remedies for this issue are suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• geostationary satellite
• Himawari
• lake surface temperature
• Lake Kasumigaura

Editor S. Archfield; Associate Editor Z. Duan

Editor S. Archfield; Associate Editor Z. Duan

Acknowledgements

The brightness temperature images were obtained through the Himawari Satellite Data Archive system of the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology. The HCAI data used in this study was provided through the Meteorological Research Consortium of the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Meteorological Society of Japan. The Himawari-8 Sea Surface Temperature Data (v. 2.0) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) were supplied by the P-Tree System of JAXA. The routine observation data at the Koshin Observatory were provided by the Kasumigaura River Office of the Kanto Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism of Japan. Our measurements at the Koshin Observatory were made possible by permission of the Kasumigaura River Office. Comments of the associate editor and a reviewer helped to improve the quality of the manuscript. We thank them all.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2023.2199162

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported and financed, in part, by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [KAKENHI 20H01384].