Alaskan Lake and Pond Extents from PlanetScope Imagery, 2019-2021

Polygon spatial files detail lake and pond extents for four Alaskan subregions, including three boreal forest areas and one tundra region. Water bodies were detected using a U-Net deep learning model applied to 3.125-meter resolution PlanetScope imagery from the snow-free periods of 2019-2021. The dataset provides both 3-year composites and monthly climatological composites for the boreal regions.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal and interannual variability in lake surface area using the monthly and 3-year composite shapefiles.
• Mapping the distribution and density of small water bodies (>0.01 ha) in Alaskan boreal forest and tundra ecosystems.
• Validating or supplementing coarser-resolution satellite-derived water masks with this 3.125-meter resolution dataset.
• Studying the relationship between topography and water body presence by integrating the slope raster input used in the model.

Strengths

• Water extents derived from high-resolution (3.125 m) PlanetScope imagery, enabling detection of small water bodies.
• Uses a deep learning model (U-Net) applied to multi-spectral bands and slope data across all cloud-free images from 2019-2021 snow-free periods.
• Provides both long-term (3-year) and detailed monthly climatological composites for seasonal analysis in boreal regions.
• Explicitly maps open, standing water without wetland vegetation, with a defined minimum mapping unit of 0.01 hectares.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist across platforms (2026-03 13 vs. 2021-09-28), creating uncertainty about metadata currency.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column/attribute names for the shapefiles are not provided in the available metadata.
• Monthly composites are only available for the three boreal forest subregions, not for the tundra region.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Deep learning model (U-Net) applied to PlanetScope orthotile imagery (red, green, blue, near-infrared bands) and a slope raster from a 30-m DEM.

Time Range

2019-2021

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:37:28.625067

Geography

Three sub-regions of Interior Alaska's boreal forest and one tundra region in Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.