1. OVERVIEW The goal of this study is to investigate satellite-derived lake surface temperature (LST) characteristics of the Great Salt Lake (GSL) on a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Accurate satellite-derived LST data have climatological, meteorological, and limnological applications. As a closed system, the volume and long-term temperature cycles of the GSL may provide one of the most accurate assessments of regional climate and hydrologic trends available in the United States. Satellite-derived GSL temperatures also have short-term meteorological and limnological applications. Lake-effect snowstorms feed on the heat and moisture-holding capacity of the lake. Thus, forecasting these storms accurately could benefit from high-resolution satellite temperature data. The GSL brine industry is also dependent on the stratification of the lake; it is hypothesized that satellite temperatures may be useful in describing lake stratification and mixing. The accuracy of satellite-derived temperature estimates over the Great Salt Lake is potentially affected by a number of sources of error, including cloud contaminiation and emissivity variations resulting from the high salinity of the lake.

2. DATA Satellite thermal imagery is available over the GSL from a variety of satellite platforms at various pixel resolution. Twice-daily thermal imagery is currently available from the NOAA-16, NOAA-17, and NOAA-18 polar-orbiting satellites and the NASA MODIS Terra and Aqua satellites.

3. FURTHER INFORMATION CURRENT SATELLITE-DERIVED LAKE TEMPERATURE ESTIMATES DATA SOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION

SATELLITE-DERIVED LAKE SURFACE TEMPERATURE SOURCES OF ERROR

CASE STUDIES OF LAKE SURFACE TEMPERATURE AS OBSERVED FROM SATELLITE

FUTURE WORK

REFERENCES FOR REMOTE SENSING OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE