Global Lake Level Status Grids

The global lake level status grids were developed mainly for use in climate model validation but remain versatile for other paleoclimate research. The global lake status database used in this study resulted from the merging of 3 main lake status databases available from NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Program (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/lakelevel.html).

Lake level fluctuations provide evidence about past variations in the global hydrological balance. The geostatistical approach is here used to more objectively identify global patterns using an ensemble of lake level databases by examining spatial autocorrelation between sites. The spatial structures of the lake level data are then modeled and grids produced for the last 12,000 years at 3,000 year intervals using ordinary and indicator kriging techniques. The two gridding techniques produced almost identical estimated regional lake status patterns, thus suggesting a robust estimation. The resulting lake-status grids are in general agreement with the previous paleoclimatic reconstructions using only site-by-site lake status point maps; however, the reduction of local fine-scale variability resulted in more coherent regional spatial patterns in areas of high local variability. The 6 ka lake-status grids were compared to simulations of four atmospheric general circulation models to illustrate their usefulness in validating broad-scale climate model outputs.

The lake status grids were derived from the Oxford lake Level Database (OLLDB), the European Lake Level Database (ELLDB), and the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia Lake level Database. See the documentation for the references for the original lake level databases.

Please cite the reference below when using the Global Lake Level Status Grids database:

Viau, A. E. and K. Gajewski. 2001. Holocene variations in the global hydrological cycle quantified by objective gridding of lake level databases. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmosphere 106(D23): 31703-31716.

Note: The start date for this data set is 12000 years before present (ypb), not what is shown in the temporal coverage field.