09 May 2011
09 May 2011
Estimation of spatio-temporal distribution of precipitable water using MODIS and AVHRR data: a case study for Cyprus
D. Hadjimitsis1, Z. Mitraka2, I. Gazani2, A. Retalis3, N. Chrysoulakis2, and S. Michaelides4
D. Hadjimitsis et al.
D. Hadjimitsis1, Z. Mitraka2, I. Gazani2, A. Retalis3, N. Chrysoulakis2, and S. Michaelides4
- 1Cyprus University of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering & Geomatics, Lemesos, Cyprus
- 2Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Greece
- 3National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, Greece
- 4Cyprus Meteorological Service, Nicosia, Cyprus
- 1Cyprus University of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering & Geomatics, Lemesos, Cyprus
- 2Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Greece
- 3National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, Greece
- 4Cyprus Meteorological Service, Nicosia, Cyprus
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In this paper, the atmospheric precipitable water (PW) over the area of Cyprus was estimated by means of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) thermal channels brightness temperature difference (ΔT). The AVHRR derived ΔT was calculated in a grid of 5 × 5 km cells; the corresponding PW value in each grid cell was extracted from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 2 product (near-infrared algorithm). Once the PW – ΔT relationship coefficients corresponding to the area of Cyprus were calculated, the relationship was applied to AVHRR data for one month period. Radiosonde derived PW values, as well as MODIS independent PW values were used to validate the estimations and a good agreement was noted.