Forest canopies have an important influence on the global climate balance. Through the analysis of the temperature of the canopy, it is possible to infer about the physiological aspects of the plants, helping to understand the behavior of the vegetation and, consequently, in the environmental monitoring and management of green areas. This study aims to validate the MOD11A2 V006 product from canopy surface temperature data obtained by an infrared radiation sensor. For the validation of the MOD11A2 product, a comparative analysis was performed between the land surface temperature (LST) data, obtained by the MODIS sensor, and the canopy temperature data, obtained by the SI-111 infrared radiation sensor coupled to the Itatiaia National Park (PNI) micrometeorological tower. Meteorological variables and land surface temperature collected from January to December 2018 in the PNI were also analyzed. The results reveal that the MOD11A2 product overestimates the canopy temperature in the daytime (MB ranging from 1.56 to 3.57 °C) and underestimates in the night time (MB ranging from - 0.18 to - 4.22 °C). During daytime, the months corresponding to the dry season presented a very high correlation (r = 0.74 and 0.86) and the highest values for the Willmott index (d = 0.70 and 0.64). At nighttime, the MOD11A2 product did not present a good performance for the LST estimation, especially in the rainy season. Therefore, we observed that the MOD11A2 product has limitations to estimate the land surface temperature and that possible changes in the algorithm of this product can be performed for high atmospheric humidity conditions.
Keywords: Biophysical parameters; Conservation unit; Digital sensors; Environmental satellite.