Modelling near-surface temperature conditions in high mountain environments: an appraisal

摘要

In response to the paucity of temperature data for high mountain environments at spatialand temporal resolutions reasonable for ecological modelling, this study evaluated both physically andstatistically based modelling (or interpolation) of near-surface temperatures in a high mountain envi-ronment at sub-daily time scales and differing spatial scales. We placed emphasis on the selection ofguiding environmental variables for temperature interpolation at a macro-scale, on a comparison ofphysically and statistically based modelling at meso- and micro-scale, and on a discussion of scalingissues. Geostatistical interpolation was found to perform very well at a macro-scale if additional topo-graphic and atmospheric covariables—the latter provided by remote sensing—are considered. Phys-ically based modelling performed best at a nano-scale, but revealed limits of spatial applicability dueto limited input data. Statistical modelling based on multiple linear regression, however, showed re-sults of intermediate accuracy throughout the spatial scales, providing encouraging evidence that wecan find a simple approach to estimate near-surface temperature fields in high mountain environ-ments. Attention to scaling issues proved to be important to achieve accurate results, though this washampered by the starting point of the study: the lack of observational data at finer spatial scales.