Operational Meteorology
LSA SAF evapotranspiration and its potential use in hydrological modelling
Monthly evapotranspiration variability in May 2019 and May 2020 over Europe
Evapotranspiration (ET) accounts for the flux of water evaporated at the Earth-atmosphere interface (soil + vegetation + water bodies) and transpired by vegetation through stomata in its leaves as a consequence of photosynthetic processes. ET plays a crucial role in the recycling of precipitation, in soil water availability and in modelling the hydrological cycle components, especially in arid regions.
Weather conditions in 10 day periods with LSA SAF DLST
LSA SAF Derived Land Surface Temperature provides an excellent overview of weather conditions in 10 day periods
LSA SAF Derived Land Surface Temperatures (DLST; LSA-003) are obtained every ten days from all available 15 minute Meteosat LST (LSA-001) within that period. Temporal compositing and modelling of the diurnal temperature cycle results in representative and spatially continuous maps of LST, which are a very helpful indicator of past weather conditions, e.g. allowing to identify regions affected by heat waves and droughts.
Improved Monitoring in Specific Synoptic Situations by LSA SAF LST
A case of temperature inversion in complex terrain
In winter cold-air pools in the lowest layers of the atmosphere are frequently formed due to night-time cooling. This can result in significant temperature inversion in valleys and basins. A typical weather situation with a pronounced temperature inversion developed in late December over Slovenia.
Land surface temperature: remote sensing of wintertime urban heat islands
METOP LST reveals additional spatial details compared to MSG LST
Several factors (e.g. urban areas have different thermal characteristics than surrounding non-urban areas and district heating in the winter) contribute that urban heat islands occur inside cities, i.e., part of the city with higher land surface temperature than its outlying areas.