An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X24010021

The results of surface temperature measurementsin the Moscow region by Aqua and Terra satellites are presented for theperiod of 2008–2015. High correlations between radiometer data andstation data on air temperature and surface temperature from theMeteorological Observatory of Moscow State University are revealed.However, station data on surface temperature in summer are overestimatedby 15°С as compared with satellite data due to the strong heating of thenaked site with ground thermometers. The mean intensity of surface urbanheat island in Moscow ∆T is 2.6°С; it poorly depends onthe selection of boundaries of comparison of the outer area with thecity (at distances >60 km differences do not exceed ±0.1°С).Numerical experiments demonstrate that if the cloud cover is not higherthan 20% of the city area and 50% of the region area, a displacement inthe estimates of ∆Т is small (±0.2 of the value).According to station data at the time of satellite flights, the urbanheat island intensity in the air temperature field over Moscow is lowerthan the corresponding intensity in the surface temperature fieldobtained from satellite data due to the sparse ground meteorologicalnetwork and incomplete representativeness of station data (four of fivecity stations are located in green park zones). According to the groundnetwork data, the intensity of the surface heat island in the daytimehours of satellite flight is by about three times smaller than the meandaily value. On the other hand, ∆Т derived fromsatellite data is overestimated by ~40% due to the impact ofanticyclones which enhance the heat island and allow the analysis ofimages. In the annual course, the surface heat island intensity ismaximum in June and July (~4.0°С) and minimum in November (0.7°С). Thesurface temperature field in the Moscow region is also characterized bythe geographic zonality: a total increase in the values towardsoutheast.