*WINNER* Lake Storage Observation by Citizen and Satellite

Abstract

The storage and transport of water in rivers, lakes, and wetlands are key components of the global water cycle and the primary source of water resources in much of the world. However, no repository of lake level or storage exists, except for some large lakes. Of the millions of lakes worldwide, very few are monitored. Lake science would benefit from access to more data. In this research project, we have installed 73 staff gauges in 67 lakes in USA, France, and Bangladesh. We have developed a software system that allows everyday citizen to report lake heights via text message that are stored in database. To date over 1,100 individuals have submitted over 5,062 measurements. We have computed lake area from satellite images and combined with height measurements to compute lake storage variation. Validation with high precision Levellogger shows that citizen scientists’ measurements are 99% accurate. Our investigation so far indicates that citizens can accurately measure lake stages and these measurements can be combined with satellite data. Our future work includes increasing the gauge network, effectively disseminating the collected data and the derived knowledge to scientific community and citizen, answering what processes and factors impacts lake storage variations, and expanding the functionality of the software system.