Data

Data generated in the Lakes_cci project contains global lake products during the period 1992-2020, where and when data quality appropriate for climate studies can be achieved.

Main characteristics:

Daily aggregation interval pinned to 12:00:00 UTC.
Grid format with spatial resolution of 1/120 degrees (near 1 km at the equator).
Per-lake variables (LWL and LWE) are duplicated into the grid for the area given under the nominal spatial delineation of that lake, derived from its maximum water extent as used for the variables resolved for the whole lakes grid.
Datum: WGS84
Extent: -180 to 180 degrees longitude, -90 to 90 degrees latitude, where positive signs point north and east. The pixel coordinate is the centre of the pixel. This results in 21600 grid rows and 43200 grid columns.

Distribution of lakes in the Lakes_cci dataset v2.1

Lake Surface Water Temperature data (version 2.02) - Interactive globe

Where to find and how to explore the Lakes climate data records

There are several ways in which you can explore, download, and analyse the Lakes_cci datasets.

The data are hosted at CEDA, where you find the full global datasets as well as the lake mask with the maximum extent. CEDA offers multiple download mechanisms and ways to extract a set of variables, or data for a specific region lakes_cci v2.1.0
To explore some of the ways in which you can extract data for a specific lake or region, we offer a series of python scripts and a jupyter notebook. These are intended to help new users familiarise themselves with data extraction for further analysis: project code repository.
For interactive visualisation of the dataset you can use the WebGIS . The light-weight GIS provides visualisation of most variables (figure below), and has functionality to extract small sections of the data for download or plotting (for larger requests, please use the CEDA tools). This is also a useful resource for training and education, e.g. by sharing links to your visualisation with others: https://lakescci.eofrom.space/

The Lakes_cci Global Climate Indicators Dashboard provides intuitive visualization of change in lakes using a range of aggregation methods (e.g. country, continent, altitude, population pressure). Current indicators include the Lake Surface Water Temperature anomaly, lake heat wave occurrences and change in ice-covered area. The dashboard is hosted at https://lakescci.climate-indicators.brockmann-consult.de and will be extended with additional indicators and functionalities. Anyone interested in additional climate indicators is welcome to contact the developers at info@brockmann-consult.de

Lakes_cci - Global Climate Indicators Dashboard

The list of lakes, including their location and thematic ECV data availability for version 2..1.0 can be downloaded in csv format (lakescci_v2.1_metadata). The codes of availability are as follow: (0) data available at least 50% of the temporal coverage (1) data available less than 50% of the temporal coverage (2) lakes no covered by satellite instruments (3) lakes with bad quality measurments (4) lakes under analysis.
The landmask and the distance to land dataset of 2024 lakes in the lakes_cci dataset is available at: lake mask

Tips for users:

Data used for the generation of the lakes_cci product come from multiple instruments in different missions. Thus, the temporal resolution and spatial coverage are not the same for all variables. The figures below show the spatial coverage of the data for LWL, LWE and LSWT. Temporal time step for LWL and LWE is satellite dependant, ranging from daily for lakes observed by multiple missions/tracks to 27 days for lakes being observed by sentinel-3A/B missions. LIC data is available since 2001 for all lakes with a flag indicating whether a lake do not form ice. LWLR data is available for all lakes since 2002. Among them, 48 lakes have complete datasets spanning from 2002 to 2022, while the remaining lakes have a gap in data between 2012 and 2016. The data availability is classified in five categories:

Lakes with data available at least 50% percent of the temporal coverage (16 years) – dark green dots
Lakes with data available less than 50% of the temporal coverage – light green dots
Lakes no covered by satellite instruments – black dots
Lakes analysed with rejected data because the low quality of the measurements – red dots
Lakes still under analysis – orange dots

Lake Water Level - Spatial coverage (starting in 1992)

Lake Water Extent - Spatial coverage (starting in 1992)

Lake Surface Water Temperature - Spatial coverage (starting in 1995)

Please do not hesitate to get in touch for help with the data, or any other project information (lakes_cci@groupcls.com).