Research

MODIS Global Water Reservoir Product

(GWR)

Data available at: NASA

Interactive Maps: For an interactive interface of the dataset (Google Earth Engine App), please see https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/lake
Data Description: This product provides area, elevation, storage, evaporation rate, and evaporation volume data for 164 global reservoirs.
Related publication: Li, Yao, Gang Zhao, Deep Shah, Maosheng Zhao, Sudipta Sarkar, Sadashiva Devadiga, Bingjie Zhao, Shuai Zhang, and Huilin Gao. “NASA’s Modis/Viirs Global Water Reservoir Product Suite from Moderate Resolution Remote Sensing Data.” Remote Sensing 13, no. 4 (2021): 565. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13040565

Shah, Deep, Shuai Zhang, Sudipta Sarkar, Carol Davidson, Rui Zhang, Maosheng Zhao, Sadashiva Devadiga, Praveen Noojipady, Miguel O. Román, and Huilin Gao. “Transitioning from MODIS to VIIRS Global Water Reservoir Product.” Scientific Data 11, no. 1 (2024): 209. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03028-2

Global Reservoir Bathymetry Dataset

(GRBD)

Data available at: Texas Data Repository
Data Description: This dataset contains the high resolution 3D bathymetry of 347 global reservoirs, which represents 50% of the overall global storage capacity. It also provides the Area-Elevation (A-E) and Elevation-Volume (E-V) relationships for these reservoirs.
Related publication: Li, Y., H. Gao, G. Zhao, and K. Tseng, A high-resolution bathymetry dataset for global reservoirs using multi-source satellite imagery and altimetry, Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 244, 111831, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2020.111831 .

Global Reservoir Surface Area Dataset

(GRSAD)

Data available at: Texas Data Repository
Data Description: This dataset contains the time series of area values for 6817 global reservoirs (with an integrated capacity of 6099 km3) from 1984 to 2015. It was based on the dataset by Pekel et al. (2016), with the contaminations from clouds, cloud shadows, and terrain shadows corrected automatically.
Related publication: Zhao, G. and H. Gao, Automatic correction of contaminated images for assessment of reservoir surface area dynamics, Geophysical Research Letters, doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078343

Texas Daily Lake Evaporation API

 

Data available at: Texas_Daily Lake Evaporation_API
Data Description: This dataset contains daily evaporation rates and volumes for 188 major reservoirs in Texas from 1980 to the present. Additionally, the API also provides reservoir-related information such as daily precipitation and dynamic reservoir area.
Related publication: Zhao,  B., Huntington, J. Pearson, C., Zhao, G., Ott, T., …, Gao, H.(2024). Developing a General Daily Lake Evaporation Model and Demonstrating Its Application in the State of Texas. Water Resource Research, doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036181.

This product provides area, elevation, storage, evaporation rate, and evaporation volume data for 164 global reservoirs. It includes 151 man-made reservoirs (2,672 km^3) and 13 regulated natural lakes (23,801 km^3). The product is available at both an 8-day and a monthly temporal resolution; however, the evaporation rate and volumetric evaporation parameters are only available in the monthly product. The total storage capacity of the 151 man-made reservoirs represents 45.82% of the global capacity (in its category) according to the Global Reservoir and Dam Database (GRanD).

An approach was presented to generate reservoir bathymetry by combining satellite altimetry and imagery data. We utilized multiple satellite altimetry datasets (ICESat, G-REALM, and Hydroweb) in combination with Landsat-based surface water datasets, such as SWO from GSW and monthly water area from GRSAD, to develop a consistent high-resolution 3-D bathymetry dataset for global reservoirs.

In this study, a multi-purpose reservoir module with predefined complex operational rules was integrated into the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM). Conditional operating rules, which are designed to reduce flood risk and enhance water supply reliability, were adopted in this module.