Combustion reference temperature estimation

Methods for improved accuracy in estimating a combustion reference temperature (CRT) are provided. In one embodiment, the invention provides a method of estimating a combustion reference temperature (CRT) in a gas turbine (92), the method comprising: obtaining a measurement of at least one dynamic operating condition of the gas turbine (92) selected from a group consisting of: an ambient condition, a compressor condition, a fuel condition, and a turbine condition; inputting a measurement of the at least one operating condition into a physics-based model; calculating at least one estimated internal state for the gas turbine (92) using the physics-based model; and calculating an estimated CRT based on the at least one gas turbine internal state.