Land surface temperature validation for WACMOS-ET. Reference input data set validation report.

The Land Surface Temperature (LST) products generated specifically for the WAter Cycle Observation Multi-mission
Strategy – EvapoTranspiration (WACMOS-ET) project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), are evaluated with
respect to their overall quality. LST products derived from observations acquired by the Advanced Along-Track Scanning
Radiometer (AATSR), the Multi-Functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT), and the Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite (GOES) were studied here. Following previously established best-practices on LST validation, the evaluation
includes both a qualitative component addressing general issues with the data, as well as a quantitative component, which compares the LST products directly against a reference dataset. For the latter satellite LST is compared against both ground-based in situ datasets acting as a source of absolute reference data and against independent satellite-based LST products from other sensors to provide a spatially exhaustive relative comparison.