Digital elevation model of Walker Lake, West-Central Nevada

Walker Lake lies within a topographically closed basin in west-central Nevada and is the terminus of the Walker River. Accurately determining the bathymetry and relations between lake-surface altitude, surface area, and storage volume are part of a study to improve the water budget for Walker Lake. Bathymetry of Walker Lake was measured using a single-beam echosounder coupled to a differentially-corrected global positioning system. Lake depth was subtracted from the lake-surface altitude to calculate the altitude of the lake bottom. A Lidar (light detection and ranging) survey and high resolution aerial imagery were used to create digital elevation models (DEM) around Walker Lake. All data was aquired during 2005. The altitude of the lake bottom and DEMs were merged together to create a single DEM and was used to identify areas that are currently or that were submerged by Walker Lake. The data sets and the procedures used to create the DEM are described in this metadata.