Estimation of relative humidity in Mesoamerica and Caribbean region using satellite data

Abstract

This work addresses the estimation of the relative humidity (RH), which is related to the way the body reacts under extreme hot events, and in consequence has influence in human health. RH is commonly obtained from ground stations, however in areas with few stations data is not enough to obtain a reliable spatial estimation of RH. Therefore, an algorithm is proposed to retrieve RH based on satellite data from two instruments: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), installed on Terra and Aqua satellites, and Imagery, installed on a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). The proposed models estimate RH in hourly basis and at 4 km over the Mesoamerica and Caribbean region. Results show the coefficient of multiple determination (R²) range from 0.49 to 0.70; and the root mean squared error and mean absolute error vary from 7.71% to 9.64% and 5.76% to 7.38% respectively.