Time series analysis of Land Surface Temperatures in 20 earthquake cases worldwide

The objective of the study was to examine if there are detectable localized increases in geostationary satellite-derived Land Surface Temperatures (LST) prior to twenty large (Mw>5.5) and shallow (<35km) land-based earthquakes. Two one-year-long datasets are constructed for every study area: one in a year with earthquakes and one in a year without. LST data are normalized based on the methodology described in Pavlidou et al., 2016. Anomalies are detected when normalized values exceed a threshold. Numbers of anomalies are counted in four spatial zones laying at different distances from the earthquakes and in five temporal periods before, during and after the earthquake. Anomaly densities (number of anomalies per zone and per period) are statistically evaluated to see if there exist significant differences between years, periods and locations relative to the earthquakes. The assumption is that a link between earthquakes and anomalies can be established only if significantly more anomalies appear prior to, or during, an earthquake; closer to the earthquake; and only in the year of the earthquake. The calculations and the comparisons are repeated for two different anomaly detection thresholds and for two different definitions of the length of a co-seismic period.

Nieuwe tijd C: 1850 - heden (NTC)