Day-to-day variations in surface air temperature affect society in many ways: it affect the growth of plants and animals, it can cause cold stress or heat stress, it affects the sales of a large variety of products; it affects the attractiveness of a region for tourism, temperature extremes affect the functioning of bridges, railways, etc. However, daily surface air temperature measurements are not available everywhere. Satellite data can be used to estimate temperatures at locations where no ground or in situ observations are available. To achieve this, we must develop an understanding of the relationships between traditional (land and marine) surface air temperature measurements and satellite measurements, i.e. Land Surface Temperature, Ice Surface Temperature, Sea Surface Temperature and Lake Surface Water Temperature. These relationships can be derived either empirically or with the help of physical models.
EUSTACE will give publicly available daily estimates of surface air temperature since 1850 across the globe for the first time by combining surface and satellite data using novel statistical techniques.
To achieve this, the EUSTACE project will use new statistical techniques to provide information on higher spatial and temporal scales than currently available, making optimum use of the information in data-rich eras.
