Annual 30 m leaf-on daytime land surface temperature composites across China from 2000 to 2024
Abstract
Long-term, spatially detailed land surface temperature (LST) records are needed to compare thermal environments across heterogeneous landscapes, but combining fine spatial detail with nationwide coverage over decades remains challenging. We present Chinatherm30, annual 30 m leaf-on daytime LST composites across China for 2000--2024. Quality-screened Terra MODIS thermal targets were combined with annual Landsat optical indices, topography and geographic coordinates in a cross-year random forest, followed by low-frequency residual adjustment. Spatial-block validation of the random forest yielded a correlation of 0.904 and an RMSE of 3.967°C. The median annual nationwide correlation with Landsat 8 LST during 2013--2024 was 0.864. Ground evaluation across 23 sites and 131 site-years, predominantly in the Heihe basin, yielded a correlation of 0.840 and an RMSE of 5.397°C. Independent unmanned aerial vehicle thermal imagery further evaluated local spatial patterns. The record supports long-term comparisons of leaf-on daytime thermal environments in urban, agricultural and vegetated landscapes.
Related
- Spatializing daytime street-level thermal exposure frequency profiles in urban areas during extreme heat events using the operative temperature index
- Mechanisms and patterns of snow depth and land surface temperature interactions in arid mountains: coupling coordination and lagged responses across Xinjiang, China
- Populations of cooperatively breeding birds are buffered against annual variation in precipitation and temperature
- Accelerating anthropogenic influence on annual peak wood density and associated carbon accumulation across northern conifers
- Annual recurrence and period-composite persistence of child–heat priority across six contrasting urban systems
BibTeX
@misc{liang2026annual,
title = {{Annual 30 m leaf-on daytime land surface temperature composites across China from 2000 to 2024}},
author = {Erzheng Liang and Luoma Wan and Yaotong Cai and Feiyi Gao and Ziheng Zhu},
howpublished = {EarthArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31223/x5gb9m},
url = {https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15296/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Annual 30 m leaf-on daytime land surface temperature composites across China from 2000 to 2024
AU - Erzheng Liang
AU - Luoma Wan
AU - Yaotong Cai
AU - Feiyi Gao
AU - Ziheng Zhu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - EarthArXiv
DO - 10.31223/x5gb9m
UR - https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15296/
AB - Long-term, spatially detailed land surface temperature (LST) records are needed to compare thermal environments across heterogeneous landscapes, but combining fine spatial detail with nationwide coverage over decades remains challenging. We present Chinatherm30, annual 30 m leaf-on daytime LST composites across China for 2000--2024. Quality-screened Terra MODIS thermal targets were combined with annual Landsat optical indices, topography and geographic coordinates in a cross-year random forest, followed by low-frequency residual adjustment. Spatial-block validation of the random forest yielded a correlation of 0.904 and an RMSE of 3.967°C. The median annual nationwide correlation with Landsat 8 LST during 2013--2024 was 0.864. Ground evaluation across 23 sites and 131 site-years, predominantly in the Heihe basin, yielded a correlation of 0.840 and an RMSE of 5.397°C. Independent unmanned aerial vehicle thermal imagery further evaluated local spatial patterns. The record supports long-term comparisons of leaf-on daytime thermal environments in urban, agricultural and vegetated landscapes.
ER -