VNP28C2: Global Reservoir Water Storage from VIIRS Satellite

NASA/NOAA's VIIRS/NPP Water Reservoir Area 8-day L3 Global V002 product provides an 8-day time series of surface area, elevation, and water storage for 164 global reservoirs, including 151 man-made reservoirs and 13 regulated natural lakes. The data combines VIIRS satellite imagery with pre-established area-elevation curves to estimate storage changes. It is designed for monitoring reservoir dynamics and supporting water resource management.

Use Cases

• Monitoring reservoir water storage trends based on the 8-day time series of surface area and elevation.
• Assessing regional water availability for resource management using derived water storage capacity estimates.
• Validating hydrological models with satellite-derived surface area and elevation data for specific reservoirs.
• Analyzing the impact of climate or regulation on reservoir levels using the long-term, global time series.

Strengths

• Provides data for a specific, inventoried set of 164 global reservoirs, enabling targeted analysis.
• Derives water storage estimates by combining satellite imagery with pre-established area-elevation curves, a documented scientific method.
• Offers a consistent 8-day temporal resolution for tracking reservoir dynamics over time.

Limitations

• Known issues with surface area estimation in high-latitude regions and where lake ice is present, leading to potential overestimation.
• Metadata completeness is low, with column details, row counts, and author information missing from all platform entries.
• The 'last updated' date of 2026-04-09 appears to be a future date, indicating a potential metadata error.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP VIIRS satellite (VNP09H1 product) and LPCLOUD.

Collection Method

Satellite image classification of near-infrared reflectance combined with pre-established area-elevation (A-E) curves.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:12:01.828172

Geography

Global, covering 164 specific reservoirs.