Quantification of the Adjacency Effect on Measurements in the Thermal Infrared Region

Sensor-observed energy from adjacent pixels, known as the adjacency effect, influences land surface reflectivity retrieval accuracy in optical remote sensing. As the spatial resolution of thermal infrared (TIR) images increases, the adjacency effect may influence land surface temperature (LST) retrieval accuracy in TIR remote sensing. However, to our knowledge, few studies have focused on quantifying this adjacency effect on TIR measurements. In this study, a forward adjacency effect radiative transfer model (FAERTM) was developed to quantify the adjacency effect on high-spatial-resolution TIR measurements. The model was verified to be in good agreement with moderate resolution atmospheric transmission (MODTRAN) code, with a discrepancy <; 0.15 K. The adjacency effect on target pixel observations was found to be negligible beyond 3 km from the line of sight. Variations in aerosol type only slightly influenced adjacency effect magnitude. However, the adjacency effect quickly increased with increasing image spatial resolution, adjacent pixel temperature, and aerosol density. According to simulation results, the adjacency effect can be > 3 K in some cases. These findings indicate that the adjacency effect should be considered when retrieving LSTs from TIR measurements, at least in some specific conditions. The proposed FAERTM provides a useful model for quantifying and addressing the adjacency effect on TIR measurements.