Component radiative temperatures over sparsely vegetated surfaces and their potential for upscaling land surface temperature

•MUlti-Scale Observation Experiment on land Surface temperature (MUSOES) was reported.•Component temperatures (Tc) were measured with different instruments and analyzed.•Intrinsic characteristics, illumination condition, viewing direction, etc. affect Tc.•TIR imager’s Tc and TIR radiometer’s Tc differed considerably.•Over sparsely vegetated surfaces, Tc showed good potential for upscaling LST.