Retrieval of land surface temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau using passive microwave data

Passive microwave brightness temperatures from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) were used to determine surface temperatures over land areas on the Tibetan Plateau. The algorithm developed by Mcfarland et al. and used in the Central Plains of the United States was employed in this paper and validated by ground truth data from the GAME-Tibet Intensive Observed Period. The data from the three Automated Weather Stations (AWSs), named D110, MS3608 and TTH, were chosen to validate the algorithm. Results showed that the retrieved land surface temperatures in D110 are very good, with root mean-square errors close to 3 K, but the results in MS3608 and TTH are not good, with root mean-square errors much more than 3 K. The effect factors on retrievals are discussed in the paper.