SAFARI 2000 AVHRR Land Surface Temperature Maps for Africa

NASA's SAFARI 2000 dataset provides daily day and night Land Surface Temperature (LST) maps for continental Africa and Madagascar from 1995 to 2000. Data was derived from NOAA-14 AVHRR satellite imagery, processed to 8 km resolution using a split-window technique and cloud filtering. This six-year record is structured as flat binary files, each representing a 1152x1152 pixel grid.

Use Cases

• Analyzing surface-atmosphere heat and mass fluxes using daily temperature maps.
• Assessing vegetation water stress and soil moisture conditions from thermal infrared data.
• Studying broad temporal and spatial climate trends across Africa over a six-year period.
• Validating land surface models with emissivity data derived from land cover and soil maps.
• Incorporating collateral data like cloud masks and land/water masks for atmospheric correction studies.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent six-year daily time series (1995-2000) for analyzing long-term trends.
• Each map has a defined 1152x1152 pixel grid at 8 km spatial resolution, offering continent-wide coverage.
• LST values are derived using a peer-reviewed split-window technique and cloud-filtered with the CLAVR-1 algorithm.
• Emissivity data incorporates multiple validated sources including FAO soil maps and land cover classifications.

Limitations

• Sources conflict on the last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-03-12, while NASA Earthdata lists 2000-12 31, suggesting metadata inconsistencies.
• Data is in flat binary format requiring specific knowledge for access and interpretation.
• The 8 km resolution and processing methods make it best for broad trends, not precise pixel-level analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Global Area Coverage data from the NOAA-14 satellite, processed with a modified GIMMS system and a split-window technique.

Time Range

1995 to 2000

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:17:51.570391

Geography

Continental Africa, including Madagascar