G-REALM: Global Lake and Reservoir Water Height Time Series

Several hundred global lakes and reservoirs have their surface water height tracked via satellite altimetry, potentially spanning a 25-year period from late 1992 to 2017. Derived from the G-REALM10 product, these pre-SWOT mission data support long-term trend analysis and modeling of human impacts on the water cycle. The dataset includes typical satellite data quality flagging and serves as a preparatory resource for users new to hydrological satellite data formats.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term water level trends for climate impact studies based on the 25-year time series.
• Modeling surface water storage and fluxes for reservoirs based on water level variation data.
• Preparing for SWOT mission data analysis by familiarizing with satellite-derived hydrological measurement formats.
• Assessing human impact on regional water cycles based on global lake and reservoir dynamics.

Strengths

• Covers several hundred lakes and reservoirs globally, providing broad spatial coverage.
• Time series potentially spans 25 years (late 1992-2017), enabling long-term hydrological analysis.
• Includes typical satellite data quality flagging, aiding in data reliability assessment.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in the available metadata.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2019-12-23 and 2026-04-09) create uncertainty about data currency.
• Exact row count and file sizes are unknown, limiting precise assessment of dataset scale.

Provenance

Source

G-REALM10 lake level product from https://ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/global_reservoir/

Collection Method

Derived from satellite altimetry measurements.

Time Range

late 1992 to 2017

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:08:51.076394

Geography

Global coverage of lakes and reservoirs