From seasonal fluctuations to long-term trends: global lake area dynamics under climate change, hydrological processes, and human activities since the 21st century

1. Lake surface-area dataset (monthly and hydrological year)The file “Lake_area_hydrological_year_analysis_2001_2023.csv” is a comprehensive analysis-ready dataset integrating monthly and hydrological-year lake surface-area information. For each lake, the dataset includes monthly surface-area time series, corresponding ice-season (frozen/non-frozen) indicators, hydrological-year mean surface area, and derived seasonal metrics. Specifically, this dataset contains:- monthly lake surface-area,- ice-season flags identifying frozen and non-frozen periods,- hydrological-year mean lake surface area used for interannual trend and attribution analyses,- seasonal metrics quantifying the relative contribution of seasonal variability and directional persistence (e.g., seasonal contribution and DPR),- lake-type classifications distinguishing natural lakes and reservoirs. 2. Attribution resultsThe file “Attribution_results.csv” provides the results of multivariate regression analyses applied to natural lakes exhibiting statistically significant interannual surface-area changes. For each lake, this table reports:- the coefficient of determination (R²) of the fitted model,- the dominant driving factor controlling interannual surface-area change (precipitation, river discharge, temperature, potential evapotranspiration, or human water withdrawal), Lake classifications include:- permafrost versus non-permafrost regions,- endorheic (closed-basin) versus exorheic (outflow) lakes,- lake size classes, 3. Lake boundary inventoryThe “lake_inventory” shapefile represents the final lake boundary dataset used in this study. The inventory was derived from the HydroLAKES and GLAKES database after applying the following filters and updates:- exclusion of lakes smaller than 1 km²,- exclusion of lakes within 10 km of the coastline to minimize tidal influence,- reclassification of reservoirs and human-regulated lakes based on the Global Dam Watch database. 4. Data sources and reproducibilityThe datasets provided here were derived from multiple publicly available sources, users should obtain them directly from the original providers if full reprocessing is required. If additional data or information are required, please feel free to contact the authors by email. Table 1. Data sources Data type Data format Spatial resolution Temporal coverage Data source Human water withdrawal GeoTIFF 0.5° 1901-2023(Monthly) https://gude.uni-frankfurt.de HydroLAKES SHP — — https://www.hydrosheds.org HydroBASINS SHP — — https://www.hydrosheds.org Aridity Index GeoTIFF 30′ — https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7504448 Landscan GeoTIFF 30′ 1998-2024(yearly) https://landscan.ornl.gov/ ERA5‑Land reanalysis NetCDF 0.1° 1940-present(Monthly) https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/ Lake-TopoCat SHP — https://zenodo.org/records/7916729 GLWS CSV — 1992-2020 https://zenodo.org/records/7946043 GRS CSV — 1999-2018(Monthly) https://zenodo.org/records/7855477 Lake Monthly Surface Area CSV — 2001-2023(Monthly) https://zenodo.org/records/15536395 Global Dam Watch SHP — — https://www.globaldamwatch.org/ Koppen–Geiger climate classification GeoTIFF 30′ — http://glass.umd.edu/KGClim/ Global River Discharge Reanalysis NetCDF — 1984-2018(daily) https://zenodo.org/records/13951712 Northern Hemisphere Permafrost SHP — — https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.888600