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Great Lakes seamless water depth models generated at water levels 3 feet below to 10 feet above the published low water datum

Metadata Updated: August 23, 2025

Modifications were made to Great Lakes topobathy data to interpolate areas of missing near shore elevation data. Areas with missing elevation data were not interpolated where there was low confidence in the underlying depth. This included rivers, canals, harbors, lakes, reservoirs, etc. Areas important for targeting Phragmites australis management often lie within these aquatic/terrestrial transition zones. The original topobathy data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer called the NOAA Lake Level Viewer. It depicts potential lake level rise and fall and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The base elevation data were the best available lidar and US Army Corps of Engineer dredge survey data known to exist at the time of DEM creation that met project specifications. Water depths were modeled using the updated topobathy data set and a low water datum (https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/gldatums.html) used to denote a static water surface elevation. Low water datums (LWD) are a stable water surface elevation that doesn't change over time based on fluctuating water levels. Water depths were modeled at levels 3 feet below to 10 feet above the LWD in 1/2 foot increments. Units are in centimeters, the larger the negative value, the deeper the water. These water depths do not consider natural processes such as erosion, subsidence, or future construction. Water extent is as it would appear on a calm day with no wind-driven waves or seiche effect. The mapping may not accurately capture detailed hydrologic/hydraulic features such as canals, ditches, and stormwater infrastructure, resulting in inundated areas that are not connected to a lake. A more detailed analysis may be required to determine an area's actual susceptibility to flooding. The data should be used only as a screening-level tool (https://coast.noaa.gov/llv).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date August 23, 2025
Metadata Updated Date August 23, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date August 23, 2025
Metadata Updated Date August 23, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/49fd11c76ded0299c2cfd7c57bd1235a
Identifier USGS:66d9f75bd34eef5af66d537c
Data Last Modified 20250716
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 12437837-bb9f-4cf5-ba9c-a6357ab5c9a2
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -92.7246,41.1787,-75.4102,49.3251
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 455c77598aa0b9c77ae89bcb097a4e9eb304ad35cd3898ed9a57e2693cec0e62
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -92.7246, 41.1787, -92.7246, 49.3251, -75.4102, 49.3251, -75.4102, 41.1787, -92.7246, 41.1787}

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