A Long-Term Fine-Resolution Record of AVHRR Surface Temperatures for the Laurentian Great Lakes

Abstract

Inland waters are warming at highly variable rates that often differ from regional air temperature trends. This variable warming is partially attributable to an individual lake’s geographical and morphological characteristics. In very large lakes, significant intralake variability in long-term warming trends has also been observed. In light of this intralake and interlake heterogeneity of lake surface water temperature (LSWT) and LSWT trends, we revisit the 1.1 km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) record for the Laurentian Great Lakes. In this work, we have assembled a long-term (1986–2016) and high-spatial-resolution (0.018°) daily LSWT dataset using AVHRR record. Subtracting an empirically-determined mean diurnal cycle mitigates the effects of varying observation times. Adjustments in the georegistration of the images are made to reduce the impact of AVHRR navigational errors on the earlier platforms. Both the original daily composites, and a gap-filled product using locally weighted interpolation methods will be made available to support fine-scale physical and environmental research in the region.