An Improved Single-Channel Polar Region Ice Surface Temperature Retrieval Algorithm Using Landsat-8 Data

Ice surface temperature (IST) is a key parameter for the study of polar ice sheets and ice shelves. In this study, an improved single-channel (ISC) algorithm based on the radiative transfer equation is proposed for IST retrieval from Landsat-8 band 10 data. The main steps in the proposed ISC algorithm include: 1) simulation of atmospheric radiative parameters by regression against the atmospheric water vapor content and the effective mean atmospheric temperature; 2) calculation of IST using Planck's equation, instead of using Taylor's approximation; and 3) implementation of an iterative scheme for IST calculation. The errors from using Taylor's approximation and the atmospheric radiative parameter simulation were quantitatively estimated. A sensitivity analysis of ISC to possible errors in atmospheric water vapor content, brightness temperature, and satellite observations was also conducted. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that the proposed algorithm is robust to the atmospheric water vapor content, but is sensitive to the calibration precision of the thermal infrared sensor. Verification using a simulated approach showed better IST variability from ISC than the original SC algorithm [the root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) were 0.3252 and 0.7176 K, respectively]. When compared with near-surface air temperatures from 68 automatic weather stations data in Greenland and 25 data in the Antarctic, the bias and RMSE from the ISC algorithm were again better than those from the SC algorithm. The IST from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was found to be underestimated with respect to the results of both the SC and ISC algorithms. Maps of the spatial distributions of IST derived from samples of Landsat-8 images are presented. The rationale of each step in the proposed ISC algorithm is also presented so that this can provide further support to the authenticity of the results.