Including elevation information while temperature interpolation

Question

I am working on ArcMap 10.5 for temperature interpolation. I am using IDW for interpolation. I need to compare the results with and without elevation data. However, I am unable to understand how to add elevation and temperature interpolation layer? Basically, I want an interpolated temperature raster that reflects elevation effect as well.

Answer 1

Elevation is major factor in air temperature pattern, for small study area it is better to a) derive regression equation Temperature(Elevation) which in theory should show 6 degrees drop per 1 km of elevation, b)apply it on elevation model and c) forget other two factors, i.e. latitude and longitude or interpolate residuals i.e. deviations from Temperature(Elevation) curve using x,y. Add it to 1st raster.

You can find specialized software that can handle temperature mapping for larger areas, but there is none in ArcGIS. Fortunately ArcGIS comes with scipy package and there are at least 2 methods available for interpolation in n dimensional space, where n can be greater than 2, but it requires coding.

Third driver is of great importance in many other cases, e.g. flood mapping. Below example shows depth at sample points and depth raster derived using Radial Basis Function using x, y, z coordinates of points and elevation model:

So, invest in coding or available commercial software.

Answer 2

You can use Combine tool to combine the two rasters of temperature and elevation. The combine tool:

Combines multiple rasters so that a unique output value is assigned to each unique combination of input values.

Although in your case, maybe, you don't want to create a new raster with unique values for the combined rasters, but at least you can see both attributes of temperature and elevation together to check their values.