The Effects of Soil Moisture and Vegetation on Surface Temperature.

This report from the Duke University test site augments data collected at the test site of the U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories eTL. In an instrumentation sense the two sites are analogous. The Duke University site, however, can provide variations in vegetation cover, is large enough to approximate boundary-free conditions, and has individual test plots of sufficient size to be used in support of aircraft remote sensing missions. Thus, the general purpose of this analysis is to gain a better understanding of how the variable weather conditions in the Eastern United States interact with the soil moisture content and the plant canopy temperature in determining the surface energy balance components on a diurnal and longer periodic basis.