UNL (FIFE): Surface Temperature and Radiation Measurements

Surface temperatures were measured at a 30-degree view zenith angle with an Everest infrared thermometer and at approximately a 60-degree angle with a Scheduler Plant Stress Monitor at 4 view azimuths. The dataset contains net radiation, incoming and reflected photosynthetically active radiation, shortwave radiation, and reflected and emitted longwave radiation. Measurements were taken using specific instruments including Eppley Precision pyranometers and an infrared radiometer.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived land surface temperature products based on multi-angle ground measurements.
• Modeling surface energy balance and albedo using measured incoming and reflected shortwave and longwave radiation.
• Studying plant stress and evapotranspiration using vapor pressure deficit and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data.
• Analyzing diurnal and seasonal radiative flux patterns from time-series measurements.

Strengths

• Provides multi-angle surface temperature measurements from two specific instrument models (Everest IRT Model 112C and Scheduler Plant Stress Monitor).
• Contains a detailed suite of radiation components (net, shortwave, longwave, PAR) measured with named, high-precision instruments (e.g., Eppley Precision Pyranometer Model PSP).
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals importance and curation.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts: last updated date is listed as 2026-04-09 on Data.gov but 1989-08-11 on NASA EarthData, creating uncertainty about data currency.
• Key structural information is missing: column names, row count, and file size are unknown across all sources.
• The 'other-license-specified' license on Data.gov is ambiguous without the specific terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Ground-based measurements using infrared thermometers, pyranometers, and radiometers.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:55:55.259105