{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T05:35:43Z","timestamp":1782970543829,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,26]],"date-time":"2020-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1585180800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Entropy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Satellite thermal infrared remote sensing has received worldwide attention in the exploration for earthquake precursors; however, this method faces great controversy. Obtaining repeatable phenomena related to earthquakes is helpful to reduce this controversy. In this paper, a total of 15 or 17 years of Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)\/Aqua and MODIS\/Terra satellite remote sensing land surface temperature (LST) products is selected to analyze the temperature changes before and after the Mw 7.9 earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015 and to explore possible thermal information associated with this earthquake. Major findings are given as follows: (1) from the time course, the temperature slowly cooled before the earthquake, reached a minimum at the time of the earthquake, and returned to normal after the earthquake. Since these changes were initiated before the earthquake, they may even have been precursors to the Nepal earthquake. (2) From the space distribution, the cooling areas correspond to the seismogenic structure during the earthquake. These cooling areas are distributed along the Himalayas and are approximately 1300 km long. The widths of the East and West sides are slightly different, with an average temperature decrease of 5.6 \u00b0C. For these cooling areas, the Western section is approximately 90 km wide and 500 km long; the East side is approximately 190 km wide and 800 km long. The Western side of the cooling strips appeared before the earthquake. In short, these kinds of spatial and temporal changes are tectonically related to the earthquake and may have been caused by the tectonic activity associated with the Nepal earthquake. This process began before the earthquake and therefore might even be potentially premonitory information associated with the Nepal earthquake.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/e22040377","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,27]],"date-time":"2020-03-27T09:04:38Z","timestamp":1585299878000},"page":"377","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":24,"title":["Exploring Changes in Land Surface Temperature Possibly Associated with Earthquake: Case of the April 2015 Nepal Mw 7.9 Earthquake"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3886-5328","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shunyun","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peixun","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tao","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd., Chengdu 610031, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd., Chengdu 610031, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5168-9683","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhonghu","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, Beijing 100029, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lichun","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, Beijing 100029, China"},{"name":"College of Earth Sciences, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhengxuan","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd., Chengdu 610031, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guangze","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd., Chengdu 610031, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-246X.1997.tb06588.x","article-title":"Earthquake prediction: A critical review","volume":"131","author":"Geller","year":"1997","journal-title":"Geophys. J. Int."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1616","DOI":"10.1126\/science.275.5306.1616","article-title":"Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted","volume":"275","author":"Geller","year":"1997","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ohnaka, M. (2013). The Physics of Rock Failure and Earthquakes, Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781139342865"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Vallianatos, F., and Georgios, C. (2018). A Complexity View into the Physics of the Accelerating Seismic Release Hypothesis: Theoretical Principles. Entropy, 20.","DOI":"10.3390\/e20100754"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Song, D., Xie, R., Zang, L., Yhi, J., Qin, K., Shan, X., Cui, J., and Wang, B. (2018). A New Algorithm for the Characterization of Thermal Infrared Anomalies in Tectonic Activities. Remote Sens., 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs10121941"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1013","DOI":"10.5194\/nhess-18-1013-2018","article-title":"Pre-seismic anomalies from optical satellite observations: A review","volume":"18","author":"Jiao","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"1295","article-title":"Basic principles for evaluating an earthquake prediction method","volume":"23","author":"Varotsos","year":"1995","journal-title":"Transl. World Seismol."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"1324","article-title":"Satellite infrared thermos-anomaly: Earthquake imminent precursor","volume":"35","author":"Qiang","year":"1990","journal-title":"Chin. Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"2259","article-title":"Earth gas emission, infrared thermo-anomaly and seismicity","volume":"24","author":"Qiang","year":"1992","journal-title":"Chin. Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1439","DOI":"10.1080\/01431169608948716","article-title":"Satellite thermal survey\u2014A new tool for the studies of seismoactive regions","volume":"17","author":"Tronin","year":"1996","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pce.2006.02.024","article-title":"Remote sensing and earthquakes: A review","volume":"31","author":"Tronin","year":"2006","journal-title":"Phys. Chem. Earth"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.3390\/rs2010124","article-title":"Satellite Remote Sensing in Seismology: A Review","volume":"2","author":"Tronin","year":"2010","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"519","DOI":"10.1016\/S0264-3707(02)00013-3","article-title":"Thermal IR satellite data application for earthquake research in Japan and China","volume":"33","author":"Tronin","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Geodyn."},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"67","article-title":"Outgoing infrared radiation of the earth as an indicator of seismic activity","volume":"301","author":"Gorny","year":"1988","journal-title":"DoSSR"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1016\/S0273-1177(03)00486-1","article-title":"Mid-infrared emission prior to strong earthquakes analyzed by remote sensing data","volume":"33","author":"Ouzounov","year":"2004","journal-title":"Adv. Space Res."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tecto.2006.05.042","article-title":"Outgoing long wave radiation variability from IR satellite data prior to major earthquakes","volume":"431","author":"Ouzounov","year":"2007","journal-title":"Tectonophysics"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2005.04.006","article-title":"Assessing the potential of thermal infrared satellite surveys for monitoring seismically active areas: The case of Kocaeli (Izmit) earthquake, August 17, 1999","volume":"96","author":"Tramutoli","year":"2005","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.5194\/nhess-7-535-2007","article-title":"Pre-earthquake signals-Part I: Deviatoric stresses turn rocks into a source of electric currents","volume":"7","author":"Freund","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.5194\/nhess-7-543-2007","article-title":"Pre-earthquake signals-Part II: Flow of battery currents in the Crust","volume":"7","author":"Freund","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"343","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jseaes.2010.03.009","article-title":"Pre-earthquake signals: Underlying physical processes","volume":"41","author":"Freund","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Asian Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.5194\/ee-2-7-2007","article-title":"Stimulated infrared emission from rocks: Assessing a stress indicator","volume":"2","author":"Freund","year":"2007","journal-title":"eEarth"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"645","article-title":"Remote sensing detection of rock fracturing experiment and the beginning of remote rock mechanics","volume":"14","author":"Geng","year":"1992","journal-title":"Acta Seismol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"373","article-title":"Advances in understanding of the mechanism for generation of earthquake thermal precursors detected by satellites","volume":"11","author":"Saraf","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"285","DOI":"10.1007\/s00024-015-1116-8","article-title":"Tramutoli. Long-Term RST Analysis of Anomalous TIR Sequences in Relation with Earthquakes Occurred in Greece in the Period 2004\u20132013","volume":"173","author":"Eleftheriou","year":"2016","journal-title":"Pure Appl. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2016.11.005","article-title":"MODIS-based estimates of strong snow surface temperature anomaly related to high altitude earthquakes of 2015","volume":"188","author":"Bhardwaj","year":"2017","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Blackett, M., Wooster, M., and Malamud, B. (2011). Exploring land surface temperature earthquake precursors: A focus on the Gujarat (India) earthquake of 2001. Geophys. Res. Lett., 38.","DOI":"10.1029\/2011GL049428"},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"775","article-title":"Exploring the current tectonic activity with satellite remote sensing thermal information: A case of the Wenchuan earthquake","volume":"36","author":"Chen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Seismol. Geol."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2640","DOI":"10.1360\/N972015-00559","article-title":"Tectonic setting and general features of coseismic rupture of the 25 April, 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Nepal earthquake (in Chinese)","volume":"60","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Chin. Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"2528","article-title":"The seismogenic structure of the April 25, 2015 MW7.8 Nepal earthquake in the southern margin of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau","volume":"59","author":"Yang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Chin. J. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jastp.2016.01.017","article-title":"Atmospheric changes observed during April 2015 Nepal earthquake","volume":"140","author":"Nandita","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Physics."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jog.2017.11.009","article-title":"Observational signatures of unusual outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and atmospheric gravity waves (AGW) as precursory effects of May 2015 Nepal earthquakes","volume":"113","author":"Chakraborty","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Geodyn."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1126\/science.189.4201.419","article-title":"Cenozoic tectonics of Asia: Effects of a continental collision","volume":"189","author":"Molnar","year":"1975","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"243","article-title":"Active faults of the Himalaya of India and Nepal","volume":"232","author":"Nakata","year":"1989","journal-title":"GSA Spec. Pap."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1147","DOI":"10.1029\/JB089iB02p01147","article-title":"Seismotectonics of the Himalayan Collision Zone: Geometry of the underthrusting Indian Plate beneath the Himalaya","volume":"89","author":"Ni","year":"1984","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1688","DOI":"10.1126\/science.274.5293.1688","article-title":"Bright spots, Structure, and Magmatism in Southern Tibet from INDEPTH Seismic Reflection Profiling","volume":"274","author":"Brown","year":"1996","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"1881","article-title":"Inversion of the apparent source time functions for the rupture process of the Nepal Ms8.1 earthquake","volume":"58","author":"Zhang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Chin. J. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tecto.2016.05.023","article-title":"Assessment of teleseismically-determined source parameters for the April 25, 2015 MW 7.9 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake and the May 12, 2015 MW 7.2 aftershock","volume":"714","author":"Lay","year":"2017","journal-title":"Tectonophysics"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7467","DOI":"10.1002\/2015GL065336","article-title":"Dynamics of the 2015 M7.8 Nepal earthquake","volume":"42","author":"Denolle","year":"2015","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"980","DOI":"10.1109\/36.602541","article-title":"A physics-based algorithm for retrieving land surface emissivity and temperature from EOS\/MODIS data","volume":"35","author":"Wan","year":"1997","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2006.06.026","article-title":"New refinements and validation of the MODIS Land Surface Temperature\/Emissivity products","volume":"112","author":"Wan","year":"2008","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(02)00093-7","article-title":"Validation of the land surface temperature products retrieved from Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data","volume":"83","author":"Wan","year":"2002","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"Li, J., and Tang, Y. (1999). Application of Wavelet Analyses, Chongqing University Press. (In Chinese)."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"674","DOI":"10.1109\/34.192463","article-title":"A theory of multi-resolution signal decomposition: The wavelet representation","volume":"11","author":"Mallat","year":"1989","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. PAMI"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"879","DOI":"10.1016\/S1365-1609(99)00066-0","article-title":"Remote sensing rock mechanics (RSRM) and associated experimental studies","volume":"37","author":"Wu","year":"2000","journal-title":"Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci."},{"key":"ref_45","first-page":"140","article-title":"Research on the application of infrared remote sensing in earthquake prediction and its physical mechanism","volume":"16","author":"Yin","year":"2000","journal-title":"Earthq. Res. China"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pce.2006.02.042","article-title":"The physical nature of thermal anomalies observed before strong earthquakes","volume":"31","author":"Pulinets","year":"2006","journal-title":"Phys. Chem. Earth Part A\/B\/C"},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"698","article-title":"Variation of land surface temperature in Yilan-Yitong fault zone of northeastern China","volume":"34","author":"Ren","year":"2012","journal-title":"Acta Seismol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1007\/s00024-018-1933-7","article-title":"Co-Seismic Response of Bedrock Temperature to the Ms6.3 Kangding Earthquake on 22 November 2014 in Sichuan, China","volume":"176","author":"Chen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Pure Appl. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1825","DOI":"10.1007\/s11430-009-0183-z","article-title":"Theoretical and experimental study on relationship between stress-strain and temperature variation","volume":"52","author":"Chen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Sci. China Ser. D Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_50","first-page":"502","article-title":"An experiment on the infrared radiation of surficial rocks during deformation","volume":"26","author":"Liu","year":"2004","journal-title":"Seismol. Geol."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5101","DOI":"10.1002\/2016JB013645","article-title":"Experimental and numerical investigation of the temperature response to stress changes of rocks","volume":"122","author":"Yang","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth"},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chui, C.K. (1992). An Introduction to Wavelets, Academic Press.","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4823126"},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Daubechies, I. (1992). Ten Lectures on Wavelets, SIAM Press.","DOI":"10.1137\/1.9781611970104"},{"key":"ref_54","unstructured":"Boggess, A., and Narcowich, F.J. (2009). A First Course in Wavelets with Fourier Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"962","DOI":"10.1002\/cjg2.1421","article-title":"A study on the normal annual variation field of land surface temperature in China","volume":"52","author":"Chen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Chin. J. Geophys."}],"container-title":["Entropy"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1099-4300\/22\/4\/377\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:11:59Z","timestamp":1760173919000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1099-4300\/22\/4\/377"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,26]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,4]]}},"alternative-id":["e22040377"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/e22040377","relation":{},"ISSN":["1099-4300"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1099-4300","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,26]]}}}