Return to search results
Elevation-Area-Volume Relationships, in Topobathymetric Elevation Models and Elevation-Area-Volume Relationships for Selected Lakes in Closed Basins of the Great Basin States
Terminal and saline lakes across the western United States serve as critical hydrologic, ecologic, and geomorphic resources. This data release provides assimilated topobathymetric elevation models and elevation area volume (EAV) relationships for selected lakes within these terminal basins. The datasets integrate the best available topographic lidar and bathymetric information, including recent high resolution lidar digital elevation models (DEMs) and historical or modern bathymetric surveys, to produce continuous elevation surfaces for each lake. Bathymetric sources include interpolated DEMs derived from historical contour maps as well as more recent echosounder based or lidar supported lakebed surveys. All elevation data were transformed to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) and merged at the highest available spatial resolution for each lake domain.
Topobathymetric rasters were generated in ArcGIS Pro (v. 3.5.5) using consistent horizontal projections within the Universal Transverse Mercator system and processed to ensure seamless topographic transitions between dry and submerged surfaces. In cases where bathymetric coverage did not overlap with lidar, elevation gaps were interpolated using hydrologically consistent void filling models to create continuous topobathymetry. Elevation area volume relationships were computed at 0.1 meter intervals across each modeled lake using the ESRI Storage Capacity tool, with hydrologically conditioned processing for lakes in which natural or manmade barriers form multiple basins that connect only at specific elevations. The uppermost elevation in each EAV table is equal to or above the highest recorded water-surface elevation observed in historical records. These EAV curves provide a quantitative basis for hydrologic modeling, water budget analyses, and ecological assessment within each closed basin.
This data release delivers standardized, high‑quality elevation datasets and EAV metrics for lakes including Eagle Lake, Goose Lake, Honey Lake, and Mono Lake in California, Carson Lake, Carson Sink, Franklin Lake, Pyramid Lake, Ruby Lake, Winnemucca Lake, and Walker Lake in Nevada, Lake Abert, Harney Lake, Malheur Lake, Mud Lake, Silver Lake, and Summer Lake in Oregon, and Sevier Lake in Utah. Together, these products support improved understanding of lake dynamics, ecosystem management, and hydrogeomorphic change across terminal lake systems of the western United States.
This section of the data release includes tables in the format of comma-separated value (CSV) files with elevation-area-volume relationships for selected lakes in closed basins of the Great Basin States. The volume and area of each lake were calculated from topobathymetric raster datasets at elevation increments of 0.1 meters from lake bottom to at or above the highest recorded water-surface elevation.
Find Related Datasets
Search by Tags
Click any tag below to search for similar datasets
Complete Metadata
| accessLevel | public |
|---|---|
| bureauCode |
[ "010:12" ] |
| contactPoint |
{ "fn": "Jonathan Casey Root", "@type": "vcard:Contact", "hasEmail": "mailto:jroot@usgs.gov" } |
| description | Terminal and saline lakes across the western United States serve as critical hydrologic, ecologic, and geomorphic resources. This data release provides assimilated topobathymetric elevation models and elevation area volume (EAV) relationships for selected lakes within these terminal basins. The datasets integrate the best available topographic lidar and bathymetric information, including recent high resolution lidar digital elevation models (DEMs) and historical or modern bathymetric surveys, to produce continuous elevation surfaces for each lake. Bathymetric sources include interpolated DEMs derived from historical contour maps as well as more recent echosounder based or lidar supported lakebed surveys. All elevation data were transformed to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) and merged at the highest available spatial resolution for each lake domain. Topobathymetric rasters were generated in ArcGIS Pro (v. 3.5.5) using consistent horizontal projections within the Universal Transverse Mercator system and processed to ensure seamless topographic transitions between dry and submerged surfaces. In cases where bathymetric coverage did not overlap with lidar, elevation gaps were interpolated using hydrologically consistent void filling models to create continuous topobathymetry. Elevation area volume relationships were computed at 0.1 meter intervals across each modeled lake using the ESRI Storage Capacity tool, with hydrologically conditioned processing for lakes in which natural or manmade barriers form multiple basins that connect only at specific elevations. The uppermost elevation in each EAV table is equal to or above the highest recorded water-surface elevation observed in historical records. These EAV curves provide a quantitative basis for hydrologic modeling, water budget analyses, and ecological assessment within each closed basin. This data release delivers standardized, high‑quality elevation datasets and EAV metrics for lakes including Eagle Lake, Goose Lake, Honey Lake, and Mono Lake in California, Carson Lake, Carson Sink, Franklin Lake, Pyramid Lake, Ruby Lake, Winnemucca Lake, and Walker Lake in Nevada, Lake Abert, Harney Lake, Malheur Lake, Mud Lake, Silver Lake, and Summer Lake in Oregon, and Sevier Lake in Utah. Together, these products support improved understanding of lake dynamics, ecosystem management, and hydrogeomorphic change across terminal lake systems of the western United States. This section of the data release includes tables in the format of comma-separated value (CSV) files with elevation-area-volume relationships for selected lakes in closed basins of the Great Basin States. The volume and area of each lake were calculated from topobathymetric raster datasets at elevation increments of 0.1 meters from lake bottom to at or above the highest recorded water-surface elevation. |
| distribution |
[ { "@type": "dcat:Distribution", "title": "Digital Data", "format": "XML", "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.5066/P147WRTT", "mediaType": "application/http", "description": "Landing page for access to the data" }, { "@type": "dcat:Distribution", "title": "Original Metadata", "format": "XML", "mediaType": "text/xml", "description": "The metadata original format", "downloadURL": "https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.6a15bbbab66b012f9f081d87.xml" } ] |
| identifier | http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_6a15bbbab66b012f9f081d87 |
| keyword |
[ "3D Elevation Program", "3DEP", "Acoustic Sonar", "Antelope Island State Park", "Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge", "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge", "Box Elder County", "Burns Paiute Indian Colony", "California", "Carson Lake", "Carson Lake Pasture", "Carson Sink", "Churchill County", "DEM", "David County", "Eagle Lake", "Fallon National Wildlife Refuge", "Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Reservation", "Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge", "Flood Inundation Modeling", "Franklin Lake", "Fremont–Winema National Forest", "Goose Lake", "Harney County", "Harney Lake", "Honey Lake", "Honey Lake Wildlife Area", "Idaho", "Inland Bathymetry", "Inyo National Forest", "Lake Abert", "Lake County", "Lassen County", "Lassen National Forest", "Light Detection and Ranging", "Lower Chewaucan Marsh", "Malheur Lake", "Malheur National Wildlife Refuge", "Millard County", "Mineral County", "Modoc National Forest", "Mono County", "Mono Lake", "Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve", "Mud Lake", "Nevada", "Oregon", "Pershing County", "Pyramid Lake", "Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation", "Reservoir Storage Capacity", "Ruby Lake", "Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge", "SLEIWAAs", "Saline Lakes Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment", "Salt Lake County", "Sevier Lake", "Silver Lake", "Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge", "Summer Lake", "Summer Lake Wildlife Area", "Susanville Indian Rancheria", "TBDEM", "Tooele County", "U.S. Geological Survey", "USGS", "USGS:6a15bbbab66b012f9f081d87", "Upper Chewaucan Marsh", "Utah", "Utah Water Science Center", "Walker Lake", "Walker River Reservation", "Washoe County", "Weber County", "Winnemucca Lake", "Wyoming", "XL Ranch Rancheria", "aquatic ecosystems", "bathymetry", "benthic ecosystems", "biota", "birds", "climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere", "digital elevation models", "dissolved solids", "earth sciences", "economy", "ecosystem management", "ecosystem monitoring", "elevation", "environment", "environmental assessment", "geography", "geomorphology", "geoscientificInformation", "geospatial analysis", "geospatial datasets", "habitat distribution", "hydrology", "inlandWaters", "lake elevation", "lidar", "limnology", "natural resource assessment", "salinity", "salt budget", "salt cycling", "shorebird habitat", "society", "storage capacity", "surface area", "surface-water level", "topobathymetric digital elevation model", "topobathymetry", "topography", "volume", "water budget", "water depth", "water quality", "water resource management", "water surface elevation", "water use", "watershed management", "wetland ecosystems" ] |
| modified | 2026-08-17T00:00:00Z |
| publisher |
{ "name": "U.S. Geological Survey", "@type": "org:Organization" } |
| spatial | -120.9660, 36.2283, -111.8917, 43.5281 |
| theme |
[ "geospatial" ] |
| title | Elevation-Area-Volume Relationships, in Topobathymetric Elevation Models and Elevation-Area-Volume Relationships for Selected Lakes in Closed Basins of the Great Basin States |
