Diurnal variability of surface temperature over lakes: Case study for Lake Huron

The significance of diurnal variability of surface temperature over lakes has been recognized, yet, its magnitude in terms of spatial and temporal variability is not well known. Attempts have been made to derive such information from satellites at high spatial resolution, however, most have been made using polar orbiters that sample only twice per day. We will describe an effort to derive such information from geostationary satellites at hourly time scale and at about 5-km spatial resolution. The approach uses the RTTOV radiative transfer model driven with MERRA-2 reanalysis fields. We will present results of evaluation of this approaches against various independent products, and ground observations. The methodology has been implemented over Lake Huron for about six years.