Extrapolation of daily air temperatures of Egypt from MODIS LST data

The limited and poor spatial distribution of meteorological stations
is inadequate to reconstruct accurate regional air temperature
maps, which are important for environmental planning and
resources management. This study aimed to generate a gridded
dataset of max/min daily surface air temperatures for Egypt based
on remotely sensed data acquired from the MODIS land surface
temperature (LST) product. Linear regression analysis was performed
between observed air temperatures from ground weather
stations and LST records from satellite images. Regression coefficients
were as high as 0.8 between min air temperature and night
LST data, compared to 0.77 for max air temperature and day LST.
Statistical analysis reveals significant correlations (p<.01) for both
regression relationships. MODIS data showed a satisfactory performance
in producing regional monthly and annual as well as
diurnal surface air temperatures maps for Egypt. MODIS data
could also highlight the influence of topography, vegetation and
lithology on air temperatures