Global waterpack: Intra-annual assessment of spatio-temporal variability of inland water bodies

Abstract

The knowledge and understanding of intra- and inter annual characteristics of inland water bodies, such as natural lakes and artificial reservoirs are crucial for many reasons. Inland water bodies are sensitive to environmental variations and human impact which is reflected in spatial and temporal dynamics of surface extent. A time-series of areal surface extent of lakes and reservoirs might be a helpful dataset to understand the complex system and the spatio-temporal patterns of natural lakes and artificial reservoirs. In this study, we describe an approach to detect water bodies based on dynamical thresholding on daily basis and utilizing high frequency observations. Daily MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) products were used to generate water masks for the year 2013 on global scale. The results indicate that time series of water bodies’ extent are important especially for those inland water bodies which are dominated by temporal changes and fluctuation through the year. In combination with ancillary data, our understanding of environmental and human interaction and the reaction of water bodies will be improved. Such information is critical to support sustainable water management, as well as for climate change discussion since many inland water bodies are sensitive to short- and long term environmental alterations.