National-scale, remotely sensed lake trophic state (LTS-US) 1984-2020

Lake trophic state is a key water quality property that integrates a lake’s physical,
chemical, and biological processes. Despite the importance of trophic state as a gauge of
lake water quality, standardized and machine readable observations are uncommon. Remote
sensing presents an opportunity to detect and analyze lake trophic state with reproducible,
robust methods across time and space. We used Landsat surface reflectance and lake
morphometric data to create the first compendium of lake trophic state for more than 56,000
lakes of at least 10 ha in size throughout the contiguous United States from 1984 through
2020. The dataset was constructed with FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, and Reproducible) in mind, where data are publicly available, relational keys
from parent datasets are retained, and all data wrangling and modeling routines are scripted
for future reuse. Together, this resource offers critical data to address basic and applied
research questions about lake water quality at a suite of spatial and temporal
scales.