Adv. SpaceRes. Vol. 22, No. 5, pp.

655-667, 1998
01998 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rinhts reserved
Printed in -&eat Britain
0273-l 177f98$19.00 + 0.00
PII: SO273-1177(97)01127-7

THERMAL INERTIA MAPPING FROM NOAA-AVHRR

DATA
J. A. Sobrino, M. H. El Kharraz, J. Cuenca and N. Raissouni
Department ofThermodyamics, Faculty of Physics, University of Valencia. C/Vr.
Moliner, 50. 46100 Bwjassot, Spain

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a method to retrieve thermal inertia from NOAA-AVHRR data. The method, based on
Xue and Cracknells model (1992), involves using the phase angle information of the diurnal surface
temperature change. The method needs three different NOAA overpasses of the same area throughout a
single diurnal cycle. To apply this method we present a methodology that takes into account satellite
calibrations, viewing geometry and correction of atmospheric effects. The advantage is that it does not need
other data than the ones supplied by the satellite. Finally, we present the preliminary results obtained using
the proposed method and the methodology for AVHRR data over the Jberian Peninsula.
01998 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

INTRODUCTION
The thermal inertia, P (with peculiar unit, TlU, 1 TIU=l J m-2 s-li2 K-l), is defined as a measure of the
resistance offered by materials to change their temperature. For a homogeneous material, this amount can
be expressed by:
P= G

(1)

where K is the thermal conductivity (J m-1 s-1 K-t), p is the density (kg m-3) and c is the specific heat
(J kg-* K-1) of the material. Thermal inertia is the most important property which governs surface
temperature variations. High thermal inertia values lead to small changes in temperature, for a given transfer
of heat, while low thermal inertia values lead to large changes in temperature for the same transfer of heat
(Pratt and Ellyett, 1978). So, the thermal inertia is a measure of the thermal response to the temperature
variations and commands the temperatures that the soil surface may reach under the effect of diurnal or
655

J. A. Sobrino er al.

656

annual variations of soil heat flux. Knowing the thermal inertia of the terrestrial materials is hence necessary
to understand how the surface temperatures are indicators of the environmental conditions, such as the soil
humidity and its lithological composition. Therefore this is of great interest to many studies (hydrological,
geological, etc.).
Remote sensing provides a unique tool for estimating the thermal inertia in large areas. With the object of
mapping the thermal inertia of the soil surface, the experimental thermal satellite HCMM (Heat Capacity
Mapping Mission) was launched on April 26th, 1978, introducing a new era in geologic exploration. The
general&d theory to calculate thermal inertia from global remote sensing data was given by Price (1977).
This theory is difficult to apply because it needs to know a set of physical variables (wind speed, air
humidity, etc...), which are not readily found over areas of thousands of square kilometers, as it is
appropriate for remote sensing. Therefore, the model has been applied to HCMM and NOAA data in a
simplified way, considering a constant value for the quotient of the variation of the energy flux to the
atmosphere and the variation of flux into the ground, for example setting a=1 in Eq. (8) of Price (1977).
This approach provides the apparent thermal inertia which should not be used in regions having variability
in surface moisture (Price, 1985).
In recent years, a simple thermal inertia model was developed by Xue and Cracknell (1992). This model (in
the present paper we refer to it as XC) involves the use of the phase angle information of the diurnal
temperature change. Using this model, a map of real thermal inertia can be obtained, without needing to
know in advance the value of the parameter B, which, as it will be shown below, represents the
linearization coefficient of the linearized boundary condition from the dynamic energy balance equation at
the ground surface. The model requires field measurement of one parameter for the calculation of real
thermal inertia: this is the time of maximum surface temperature in the daytime, which is obtained from a
meteorological station.
In this context, the objective of the present paper is to propose an alternative procedure that allows to obtain
the real thermal inertia from remote sensing data alone, so it does not require field measurements. This
method, based in Xue and Cracknells model (1992), uses three surface temperatures taken at different
hours on the same day, which can be obtained from NOAA satellite overpasses.
THEORY
To obtain the surface thermal inertia we start with the diffusion equation, which is given by
a2T(x,t) _
ax2

aT$,t)

(2)

Thermal Inertia Mapping

657

where T(x,t) is the temperature at depth x below the surface and time t and a is the thermal diffusivity of
the half-space. For simplicity, in Eq. (2), we have assumed one-dimensional periodic heating of a uniform
half-space (a region bounded by a plane on its upper side and extending downward to infinity) of constant
thermal properties. To solve Eq. (2) the Fourier series method is used, which is commonly applied to this
type of problem, subject to the following boundary conditions (Watson, 1975):
_

iWx,t)

K+xzu

= (1-A) St-jCt cosZ- R? +R& - H-LE.

(3)

and
T(x,t) is finite as x + 00 ,

(4)

where A is the surface albedo, So the solar constant, 1375 W m-2, Ct the atmospheric transmittance,
typically of order 0.75 for vertical viewing,
cos Z= cos d cos Z - sin d[sin @cos 6 sin(ot) - cos 41sin 6 co&

sin 6 sin h cos(ot)]

cos Z = sin 6 sin h + cos 6 cos h cos(ot),

(5)
(6)

d is the surface slope angle measured downward from the horizontal, 6 is the solar declination, h is the
local latitude, Z is the local zenith angle for a smooth surface, Z is the local zenith angle for an inclined
surface, t is the time measured from local noon, o is the Earths rotation frequency 0=(21c/l day)
= 7.27 10-5 s-l, R? is the earth emitted radiation, RJ is the downward longwave sky radiation, H is the
sensible heat flux to the atmosphere and LE is the latent heat flux to the atmosphere. The first term of the
right-hand side of Eq. (3) is the absorbed short-wavelength flux coming from the sun (modulated by the
atmospheric transmission and surface albedo) which is the dominant energy flux causing temperature
changes at the Earths surface.
The mathematical difference in complexity resulting from replacing the expressions for the fluxes by a
simple linear form with surface temperature is very great and leads to the expression:
- Kvix=u

= (1-A) So Ct cosZ-[Ac+BT(O,t)],

(7)

where & and B are the linearization coefficients obtained from the dynamic energy balance equation -see
Eq.(3)- at the ground surface. Pratt et al. (1980) and Xue and Cracknell (1992) have shown that the
advantages of this linearization far outweight their limitations.
Thus, the solution of Eq (2) subject to the boundary conditions, Eqs. (4) and (7), can be mathematically
expressed for the surface temperature at depth x as (Xue and Cracknell, 1992):

J. A. Sobrino e1 al.

658

T(x,t) = - 2 + (1-A) So Ct X=1 An

exp(-k&ix)cos(nmt-k&Gx-6n)

(8)

wnP2+GBP+B2
where
ko= E

(9)

;,

S, = arctan(

(10)

Al = 1 sin6 sinh sinv + & co& cash [sin (21@+2~]

n=2,3,...

(11)

A = 2sinS sinh sin(ny) + 2 cos6 cash

[n sin (nv) cosv - cos(n\lr) sin v]
n
nrt
7t(n2-1)

(12)

yr=arccos(tg6 tgh)

(13)

From Pq. (12) we know that An tends to become zero quickly with increasing values of n. Price (1977)
compared the surface temperature obtained with all terms of E!q.(8) with the first term of the series and
concluded that the first term in the series is dominant. Therefore, for the purpose of this study we only used
the first term of the Fourier series. Then, the equation giving the surface temperature (when x=0) is:

T(O,t)= - ++

(1-A) SOCt A1

cos(ot-61)

(14)

However, it is not easy to extract P from Eq. (14) because the relationship existing between P and B must
be found out. The best solution is writing Eq. (14) for two different times, tl and t2, that gives the best
approximate description of the diurnal amplitude of surface temperature, for example around 2:30 a.m. and
2:30 p.m. local time respectively, then subtracting both equations, one can obtain:

AT = (1-A) So Ct Al

cos(ot~-6~)-cos(ot~-~~)

where AT =Tz(O,tz)-Tl(O,tl).

Now, defining b like b= B

therefore,

and

659

Thermal Inertia Mapping

b

QG&)
06)

-l-tan(61)
consequently, one obtains:
B_ (1-A) So Ct A1 [cos(ot&)

- cos(otl-&)I

(17)

AT&

Here the main problem to determinate the thermal inertia is 61. In the work of Xue and Cracknell (1992)
this was solved by maximising Eq.( 14) i.e., 61,0tniax. Now, the problem is to know the time at which the
maximum surface temperature occurs (tmax)~This is not an easy problem because this parameter changes
with the type of the surface and its knowledge requires field measurements.
In the present work, we obtain the phase difference by rewriting Eq. (14) for three different times of passes
tl, t2 and t3 for which there are three surface temperatures Tl, T2 and T3 respectively. In this way, the
difference between T(O,tl)-T(O&) and T(O&)-T(O,tg) can be obtained, then the two expressions are
divided to obtain the phase difference 61 according to the following expression:
tan +

(Tz--Cd[cos(otl)-cos(Ot2)l-(Tl-Tz)
bsW)-cos(m)l
(Tl-T2) [sin(ot2)-sin(ot3)]-(T2-T3) [sin(otl)-sin(ot2>]

(18)

To obtain Eq. (18) we have considered that & and B are constant in time for the considered day. The
importance of this equation is that it gives the phase angle information 61 as a function of the surface
temperature differences and the times of the three satellite overpasses, and therefore it is not necessary to
know the time of the maximum diurnal surface temperature as suggested by Xue and Cracknell (1992).
Model Performance
Aiming to evaluate our model, as a previous step to its application to satellite data, a temperature data
measured in situ was used. The measurements were carried out using an infrared thermometer (EVEREST4OOOA),which operates in the spectral band of 8-14 l.trn, mounted at the meteorological station of
Mollerusa (Lleida, Spain), three meters above the soil surface with an IFOV of 15.The thermometer took
a reading every 10 seconds and stored the mean of each minute in the datalogger. These measurements
were taken from the 14& to the 27th of June 1995 over a bare soil (see Figure 1). The temperature values
present different behaviour following the meteorological changes for each day.

I. A. Sobrino et al.

165 167 168 169 170171 172 173 174 175 176
DOY

Fig. 1. Temperature values as function of the time for all the days of measurements
From these measurements, we present a comparison between the proposed model (Eq. 17) and the Prices
model, i.e. obtained setting a=1 in Eq. (8) of Price (1977), and XCs model (Xue and Cracknell, 1992).
This was achieved using the temperature data given in Table 1. This Table also gives the maximum
temperatures and their times for each day of measurements, which are needed to apply XC. The calculated
thermal inertia values are plotted in Figure 2. The most important aspect observed in this figure is that XC
and Eq. (17) overlapped most of the days of measurements. However, it should be remembered that our
model needs only data supplied by the satellite, which makes it more operative. On the contrary, Prices
model presents the lowest thermal inertia values, due to the fact that it gives the apparent thermal inertia.
Because of the presence of clouds, DOYs (day of year) 172 and 175 present low thermal amplitude values
(T3-TI in Table 1) and therefore higher thermal inertia values (see Fig. 1).
.. .
ensrtrvrtv Anal-

The exposed method to obtain the thermal inertia is affected by different sources of

error of different nature. In order to evaluate these errors, a sensitivity analysis was carried out. The errors
in the thermal inertia were obtained applying the error theory to Eq. (17).
We have to notice that the error estimation was done taking into account that A1 is known, which is not
difficult if we consider that the first Fourier series coefficient depends on regional latitude and solar
declination, which values can be known with precision in the study area. The error in the temperature
difference between the two satellite passes, @AT), was taken equal to 2K, i.e., we assumed that the error
committed in the surface lemperature determination with a split-window method for the channels 4 and 5 of
NOAA-AVHRR is about 1.4 K and the absolute error in albedo, o(A), was assumed to be according to
Saunders (1990) of 10%. The others parameters which are necessary to evaluate the previous thermal
inertia expressions, as the surface temperatures at the time of satellite passes were obtained from data

ThermalInertiaMapping

661

measured in situ in Mollerusa on the DOY 168. In this way we have obtained a(Model)= 50 TIU. This
result makes clear the good performance that presents the model. Otherwise, the error in P is similar to the
obtained for XC formulation when the time of maximum is known with precision.
Table 1. Times that Correspond to Maximum (tmax>and Minimum (trrr& Temperatures as
well as the Maximum and Minimum Temperatures Tmax and Trr,in.T1, T2 and T3 are the
Temperatures at 2:30,7:30 and 14:30 GMT Respectively.

176

55001

54.8 1 6:39 1 15.2 1 20.2 1 16.7 1 52.7 ]

q xc

OJ.Price

Model

50004500.
s
F

4000.

.g 3500.
2
7

3000.

E 2500.
&?z20001500-

1000.
500
164

166

166

170

172

174

t
176

176

L)ays

Fig. 2. Comparison between the proposed model (Model), Prices model (J. Price) and
Xue and Cracknells model (XC) for the period of measurements.

662

1. A. Sobrino er al.

MEmODoLmY

The objective of this section is to propose a simple operational procedure to determinate thermal inertia
from NOAA-AVHRR data. The flowchart of the methodology is shown in Figure 3.

11
P

Fig. 3. Flowchart illustrating the procedure to compute thermal inertia.

ow Model
There are many operative algorithms that permit the land surface temperature (LST) determination from
remote sensing. Our objective is to adapt the structure of one of the existent algorithms to calculate thermal
differences, AT, between two passes of the sensor over the same area. To reach this goal the model
developed by Sobrino et al. (1996) was used. The model starts from the radiative transfer equation for an
atmosphere in thermodynamic equilibrium, which proportionates the radiance Ii measured from space in
channel i with zenith angle 8 as a sum of three terms: 1) the radiation emitted by surface and attenuated by
atmosphere, 2) the radiation emitted by the atmosphere towards the sensor, and 3) the down welling
radiation emitted by the atmosphere that incides over the surface and is reflected towards the sensor,
according to:
&

Bi(Tio) = EiaBi(Ts)Ziu+ RaueI+Ri(ref) Zie

(19)

In Eq. (19) all quantities refer to a spectral integration over the band width of channel i. Bi is the Plancks
function, Tie is the radiometric temperature measured at satellite level at zenith observation angle 8, Eie is
the ground surface emissivity at zenith observation angle 8, Bi(Ts) is the radiance measured if the surface

Thermal Inertia Mapping

663

were a blackbody with the surface temperature Ts, Ziu is the total atmospheric path transmittance at the
zenith angle 8, Rauu? is the atmospheric upwelling radiance at the zenith angle 8, which is given by the
mean value theorem, according to Rauut=(l-zie) Bi(T& (Sobrino et aZ., 1991) where Tg is the mean
temperature of the atmosphere between the surface and the sensor, being Ri(ref) the reflected atmospheric
radiance given by Sobrino et al. (1996), according to Ri(ref)=(l-aiu)(l-Q3)Bi(T&,
where is the total
atmospheric transmittance at 8=53. So, the single-channel correction method, may be written as:
Bi(T+ Ei Bi(Ts) Ziu + [(l-Tie) + (l-&i) (l-2353)Tie] Bi(T&

(20)

However the inconvenient of Eq. (20) is the necessity of atmospheric radiosoundings in the study area,
which are rather the exception. Nevertheless, this problem can be avoided if two radiative temperatures are
involved in the process of estimating the LST. According to this, Eq. (20) is rewritten for two channels of
interest, AVHRR Channels 4 and 5 inside the window, then solving between both equations for Bi(Ts) and
using a first-order Taylor series expansion of the Planck function around Ti and Ti, we have;
Ts=Tq+A(Tq-T$-Bu+(l-&)Bl-A&B2

(21)

where T4 and Ts are, respectively, the brightness temperatures measured in channels 4 and 5 of AVHRR,
&=(4+&5)/2is the mean emissivity, A&=(4-&5) is the spectral emissivity difference, and A, Bo, B1 and B2
are the split-window coefficients given by (Sobrino et aZ.,1996);

=- l-24
Q-25

(22)

RF A (l-75) GA-Tas)

(23)

Bl- (1-2424(53)) (T4-T5) + 24(53) L4

(24)

(24-25)

B2--t5ml

(25)

where Ta4 and Ta5 are respectively, the mean atmospheric temperatures in the channels of interest,
L4=B(T4)/[aB(T)/aT]T4 is a parameter with a dimension of temperature, that may be obtained adjusting
Plancks function, as B(T)aTn, with q a radiometric parameter that depends on the channel and the
considered temperature range. In particular, in the temperature range between 260K and 320K we obtained
1~44.673 and q+.26O for the channels 4 (1 lpm) and 5 (12pm) of the AVHRR. An example of validity
of the structure of Eq. (21) for determining the surface temperature from the data provided by the sensor
AVHRR, may be obtained by simulation using LOWTRAN-7 (Kneizys et aZ., 1988). This program gives
the values of the atmospheric transmissivity, as well as the different temperatures included in Eq. (21).

J. A. Sobrino et al.

664

From these data, Sobrino et al., (1996) obtained a standard deviation of 0.4 K and a maximum error in
temperature of 1.6K, for a set of 10800 different situations (60 radiosoundings x 5 surface temperatures x
36 different combinations of emissivities).

For a sensor with channels at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, as it is the case for AVHRR, the broad
band bidirectional reflectance p(z, 8,4) is given by:
P(G

09 $I=

a1

p1(z7 8, Q) + 02

p2(z,

0, $1

(26)

where p1 and p2 are the filtered bidirectional surface reflectances for the channels 1 and 2 of AVHRR
respectively, where z, 8 and 0 are respectively the solar zenith angle, the satellite zenith angle and the
relative azimuth angle between the sun and the satellite at the surface, and 01 and 02 am the factors which
weight each reflectance by the received solar radiation in each channel. These factors were assumed to be
equal to 0.5 for both channels (Saunders, 1990). In the present work, the atmospheric correction of p1 and
p2 in the visible and the near infrared respectively was carried out using SMAC (Simplified Model for
Atmospheric Correction) (Rahman and Dedieu, 1994).
Finally, it should be noticed that in order to obtain the thermal inertia, the images must be overlapped at
nocturnal and diurnal times of passes. This may be achieved using orbital methods, from the orbit
modelling described by satellite or by using ground control points. In order to work with correct data, the
pixels contaminated by clouds should be eliminated, for example with a threshold method as the proposed
by Saunders and Kriebel(1988).
APPLICATION
It should be noticed that for the estimation of the thermal inertia, the emissivity and total water vapour can
be assumed to be constant during one day. This is a further advantage of the methodology because it uses
only temperature differences.
We have applied the methodology developed to the whole Iberian Peninsula. An application of this
methodology is shown in Figure 4 that has been obtained using three passes of NOAA satellites acquired at
2:40 h, 13:OOh and 18:26 h GMT on 23rd July 1995. In this Figure, brighter areas represent smaller
thermal inertia values, darker areas represent higher values. The North and Northwest of the Peninsula
(GaIicia, Asturias, etc.), that ate the most vegetated areas, show the highest values of thermal inertia (more
than 2000 TIU). The semiarid regions in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (mainly areas of Almerfa
and Murcia) have the smallest values of thermal inertia (less than 1000 TIU). The thermal inertia values
between 1000 and 2000 TIU correspond to the most extended regions (Castilla, South of Portugal and

Thermal Inertia Mapping

665

Andalucia). These are the most sensitive regions to the seasonal and climatic changes, and at this time they
were affected by severe drought. Otherwise, these thermal inertia values are similar to the given by the
bibliography for sandy (-1000 TIU) and clayey soils (~1800 TIU), see for instance Janza (1975).

Fig. 4. Thermal inertia mapping of the Iberiti Peninsula using the model developed in the paper.

666

J. A. Sobrino et al.

CONCLUSIONS
In this work, a model for estimating the real thermal inertia using NOAA-AVHRR data has been proposed
and applied to the Iberian Peninsula. The main advantage of the suggested model is that it represents a
simple operational model that only needs satellite data. The model is based on the use of three consecutive
temperatures over the same area which permits obtaining the phase difference. The application of the model
to experimental data has given consistent results.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory (Massachusetts, USA)
for supplying the LOWTRAN-7 computer code. We also thank M. Ibaflez for providing the AVHRR
images of 1995 and the Mollerusa data. This work has been carried out while M. H. El Kharraz is granted
by the Instituto de CooperaciQ con el Mundo Arabe (ICMA) of the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores. The
authors wish to thank to the Project (CL1951815CO2-01) of the Programa National de1 Clima
(MOPU/CICyT,

Spain) for financial support. The referees and editorial suggestions

are also

acknowledged.
REFERENCES
Janza, F. K. (Ed.), Manual of Remote Sensing, Vol. I. AM. Sot. of Photogrammetry. Falls Church, VA
(1975).
Kneizys, F. X., Shettle, E. P., Abreu, L. W., Chetwynd, J. H., Anderson, G. P. et d., Users Guide to
LOWTRAN-7, Technical Report AFGL-TR-88-0177, Optical/Infrared Technology Division, U.S. Air
Force Geophysics Laboratory, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts (1988).
Pratt, D.A., and Ellyett C.D., Image Registration for Thermal Inertia Mapping and its Potential Use for
Mapping of Soil Moisture and Geology in Australia, Proceedings 12th. Znt.Symp. on Rem. Sens. of Env,
Ann Arbor, MI, pp.1207-1217 (1978).

Pratt, D.A., Foster, S.J., and Ellyett, C.D., A Calibration Procedure for Fourier Series Thermal Inertia
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Price, J.C., Thermal Inertia Mapping: A New View of the earth, J. Geophys. Res., 82: pp. 2582- 2590
(1977).
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Rahman, H., and Dedieu, G., SMAC: A Simplified Method for the Atmospheric Correction of Satellite
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Saunders, R. W., and Kriebel, K-T., An Improved Mmethod for Detecting Clear Sky and Cloudy
Radiances from AVHRR Data, ZnternationutJournal ofRemute Sensing, 9: pp. 123-150 (1988).

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661

Saunders, R. W., The Determination of Broad Band Surface Albedo from AVHRR Visible and Near
-Infrared Radiances, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 11:pp. 49-67 (1990).
Sobrino, J. A., Coll, C., and Caselles, V., Atmospheric Correction for Land Surface Temperature Using
NOAA-l 1 AVHRR Channels 4 and 5. Remote sensing of Environment, 38: pp. 19-34 (1991).
Sobrino, J. A., Li, 2. L., Stoll, M. P., and Becker, F., Multi-Channel and Multi-Angle Algorithms for
Estimating Sea and Land Surface Temperature with ATSR Data. International Journal of Remote Sensing ,
17: pp. 2089-2114 (1996).

Watson, K.,Geologic Applications of Thermal Infrared Images, Proceeedings of the IEEE, 63( 1): pp. 128137 (1975).
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(1992).