Single-channel and two-channel methods for land surface temperature retrieval from DAIS data and its application to the Barrax site

In this paper, a methodology using a single-channel and a two-channel method is presented to estimate the land surface temperature from the DAIS (Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer) thermal channels 74 (8.747 mum), 75 (9.648 mu m), 76 (10.482 mum), 77 (11.266 mum), 78 (11.997 mum) and 79 (12.668 mum). The land surface temperature retrieved with both methods has been validated over the Barrax site (Albacete, Spain) in the framework of the DAISEX (Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer Experiment) field campaigns. Prior to the validation an analysis of the DAIS data quality has been performed in order to check the agreement between in situ data and the values extracted from the DAIS images supplied by the DLR (German Optoelectronic Institute). Suitable differences between in situ and DAIS data have been found. To solve this problem a linear re-calibration of the DAIS thermal channels has been applied using two ground calibration points (bare soil and water). For the land surface temperature retrieved, rms deviations of 0.96 K using a single-channel method and 1.46 K using a two-channel method with the DAIS thermal channels 77 and 78 have been obtained considering re-calibrated data.