Surface soil moisture estimation from SEVIRI data onboard MSG satellite

Land surface temperature (LST) and vegetation index or Fraction of Vegetation Cover (FVC) triangle space in regional scale has been demonstrated to be an effective way to monitor surface soil moisture condition. In this study, LST mid-morning rising rate from geostationary satellite data is applied instead of LST in the triangle space. A new soil water dryness index (Temperature Rate Vegetation Dryness Index, TRVDI) is presented from the LST mid-morning rising rate - FVC space to reflect surface soil moisture condition. Regional TRVDI is calculated over a region of the Iberian Peninsula using MSG SEVIRI data recorded on July 2006. The validation was performed with AMSR-E soil moisture product and Anticipant Precipitation Index (API) for two meteorological stations in the area. Results indicate that TRVDI reflects the variation in soil moisture to some extent and is suitable to monitor regional surface soil moisture and temporal variation.