Evaluating heat extremes in the Sahel using ESA-CCI Land Surface Temperature data

Heatwaves are becoming more intense, occurring more frequently, and lasting longer, and they do not spare the Sahel, a region characterized by a hot and semi-arid climate and projected to be particularly vulnerable to heatwaves. Since there is a clear lack of long-term in-situ data to study past and climate trends of climate extremes in this region, Essential Climate Variables - i.e. long term, global scale, robust time series of key component of the climate system -  derived from satellite data could provide a unique opportunity to study such trends. Therefore, we use ESA-Climate Change Initiative’s (ESA-CCI) Land surface Temperature (LST) to evaluate the performance of satellite data in capturing the spatial and temporal characteristics of historical extreme heat events in the Sahel region. Through the computation of a range of monthly indices measuring the intensity, duration, and human perception of extreme heat, we compare the results obtained from LST-CCI All Microwave products during a reported severe heatwave with those from ERA5 reanalysis and observational gridded products.  Additionally, we investigate the potential of current and future high-resolution Earth Observation derived data products in enhancing the monitoring of extreme heat events.