An Online System for Nowcasting Satellite Derived Temperatures for Urban Areas

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is an adverse environmental effect of urbanization that increases the energy demand of cities and impacts human health. The study of this effect for monitoring and mitigation purposes is crucial, but it is hampered by the lack of high spatiotemporal temperature data. This article presents the work undertaken for the implementation of an operational real-time module for monitoring 2 m air temperature (TA) at a spatial resolution of 1 km based on the Meteosat Second Generation-Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (MSG-SEVIRI). This new module has been developed in the context of an operational system for monitoring the urban thermal environment. The initial evaluation of TA products against meteorological in situ data from 15 cities in Europe and North Africa yields that its accuracy in terms of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) is 2.3 degrees C and Pearson's correlation coefficient (Rho) is 0.95. The temperature information made available at and around cities can facilitate the assessment of the UHIs in real time but also the timely generation of relevant higher value products and services for energy demand and human health studies. The service is available at http://snf-652558.vm.okeanos.grnet.gr/treasure/portal/info.html.