The spatial and temporal impact of agricultural crop residual burning on local land surface temperature in three provinces across China from 2015 to 2017

China has suffered from severe crop residue burning (CRB) for a long time. As a type of biomass burning, CRB leads to a huge alteration in climate due to the emission of greenhouse gases and particulates in the atmosphere and damages to surface characteristics on land. At present, a growing body of research focuses on the impact of biomass burning (BB) (e.g., forest fire, grass fire, and CRB) on climate change from the aspect of atmospheric process. Meanwhile, a small number of research studies have started to pay attention on the damage caused by BB (e.g. forest fire) on land surface and consequent changes in the land surface temperature (LST). However, at present there is no study concerning the effect of CRB on the surface temperature. Considering its large incidence, highly seasonal concentration, and large spatial scale in China, this study attempted to reveal the impact of CRB on LST. Specifically, we identified the influence of CRB on the LST in surrounding areas based on MODIS Thermal Anomalies/Fire product and MODIS LST product during the CRB season for three provinces of China: Heilongjiang, Hebei, and Guangxi from 2015 to 2017. The results showed that there was a strong positive correlation between daily CRB spots and daily LST (R between 0.30 and 0.61) in Heilongjiang (20,184–24,902 spots of CRB from 2015 to 2017). On the other hand, in Hebei and Guangxi provinces, where the total CRB number was less (2,367–2,754 spots of CRB from 2015 to 2017 in Hebei, and 701 to 653 spots of CRB from 2015 to 2017 in Guangxi), even if R was only 0.36–0.53 and 0.11–0.53, respectively, the peaks of CRB spots and peaks of daily LST were highly matched. Furthermore, the spatial analysis showed that LST on agricultural land in 10–15 km distance from the center of CRB was higher (1–3 °C) than that in other regions in Heilongjiang province. On the other hand, the influence scale of CRB in Hebei and Guangxi was only 2–4 km with a ∼2 °C increase on LST. Finally, according to the typical case analysis, it was found that the influence of CRB on LST existed for 1–3 days and did not disappear immediately. The study proved the impact of CRB on LST in surrounding areas, and favors action on climate change relief through CRB control.