Enhancement of a global lake and reservoir database to aid climate studies and resource monitoring utilizing satellite radar altimetry

Abstract

Here, we describe the expansion and enhancement of a large (surface area ≥100 km2) lake and reservoir database (1.GREALD). These efforts have also resulted in the spin-off of two additional databases, one containing lakes and reservoirs (2.GREALD, area 10–99 km2), and the other containing ephemeral lakes (3.GELD, area ≥100 km2). These databases are unique sources for projects that utilize satellite radar altimeter data to monitor surface water levels. While 1.GREALD aims to be a complete catalog, 2.GREALD focuses on reservoirs in response to applied sciences programs that monitor water and energy resources. The creation of 3.GELD has climate change objectives as well as water resources and ecosystem conservation applications. The recording of information pertaining to the potential overpasses (waterbody crossings) of the current and archive satellite altimeters is a primary objective as is the need to highlight any form of controlled water level variation. The permanent water databases now contain 6282 entries, half experience some form of anthropogenic influence and ∼430 have been identified as potential climatically sensitive terminal lakes. The revised integral surface area distribution is a power law with exponent −1.016. Statistics reveal that with altimetric repeat visit times of 10-day to monthly, at least 80% of the permanent water bodies (≥10 km2) have been overflown at some period since the 1990s. Current information on water use and reservoir formation date show that the primary use of the reservoir class is hydroelectric power, and that China, Brazil, India, Turkey, and Vietnam dominate the dam building in recent decades.