Observation Angle Effect of Near-Ground Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing on the Temperature Results of Urban Land Surface

Xu Yuan, Zhi Lv, Kati Laakso, Jialiang Han, Xiao Liu, Qinglin Meng and Sihan Xue ()
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Xu Yuan: School of Architecture, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Zhi Lv: School of Architecture, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Kati Laakso: Centre for Earth Observation Sciences, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada
Jialiang Han: School of Architecture, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Xiao Liu: State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building and Urban Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Qinglin Meng: State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building and Urban Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Sihan Xue: School of Architecture, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-19

Abstract: During the process of urbanization, a large number of impervious land surfaces are replacing the biologically active surface. Land surface temperature is a key factor reflecting the urban thermal environment and a crucial factor affecting city livability and resident comfort. Therefore, the accurate measurement of land surface temperature is of great significance. Thermal infrared remote sensing is widely applied to study the urban thermal environment due to its distinctive advantages of high sensitivity, wide coverage, high resolution, and continuous measurement. Low-altitude remote sensing, performed using thermal infrared sensors carried by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), is a common method of land surface observation. However, thermal infrared sensors may experience varying degrees of sway due to wind, affecting the quality of the data. It is still uncertain as to what degree angle changes affect thermal infrared data in urban environments. To investigate this effect, a near-ground remote sensing experiment was conducted to observe three common urban land surfaces, namely, marble tiles, cement tiles and grasses, at observation angles of 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60° using a thermal infrared imager. This is accompanied by synchronous ground temperature measurements conducted by iButton digital thermometers. Our results suggest that the temperature differences between the remote sensing data of the land surface and the corresponding ground truth data increase as a function of the increasing observation angle of the three land surfaces. Furthermore, the differences are minor when the observation angle changes are not more than 15° and the changes are not the same for different land surfaces. Our findings increase the current understanding of the effects of different angles on thermal infrared remote sensing in urban land surface temperature monitoring.

Keywords: urban land surface; observation angle; near-ground remote sensing; thermal infrared remote sensing; urban thermal environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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