Reducing atmospheric noise in RST analysis of TIR satellite radiances for earthquakes prone areas satellite monitoring

Publication date: Available online 19 August 2015 Source:Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C Author(s): Mariano Lisi, Carolina Filizzola, Nicola Genzano, Rossana Paciello, Nicola Pergola, Valerio Tramutoli Space-time fluctuations of the Earth’s emitted Thermal Infrared (TIR) radiation observed from satellite from months to weeks before an earthquake are reported in several studies. Among the others, a Robust Satellite data analysis Technique (RST) was proposed (and applied to different satellite sensors in various geo-tectonic contexts) to discriminate anomalous signal transients possibly associated with earthquake occurrence from normal TIR signal fluctuations due to other possible causes (e.g. solar diurnal-annual cycle, meteorological conditions, changes in observational conditions, etc.). Variations in satellite view angle depending on satellite’s passages (for polar satellites) and atmospheric water vapour fluctuations were recognized in the past as the main factors affecting the residual signal variability reducing the overall Signal-to-Noise (S/N) ratio and the potential of the RST-based approach in identifying seismically related thermal anomalies. In this paper we focus on both factors for the first time, applying the RST approach to geostationary satellites (which guarantees stable view angles) and using Land Surface Temperature (LST) data products (which are less affected by atmospheric water vapour variability) instead of just TIR r...

Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - August 19, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: research