Open data
We publish free datasets built from open satellite imagery and government data. Each release has a DOI, a documented method, and a regular update schedule.
Catalog
Datasets
Western Terminal Lakes Open-water surface area of each lake, by month Six terminal lakesLakes with no outflow to the sea. Water leaves only by evaporation, so their size tracks drought and water use closely. in the western U.S., 2019 to present Monthly CC BY 4.0 In preparation
- Summary
- A monthly table of how much open water each lake holds on the surface, with an uncertainty range for every value. It is meant for researchers, water managers, and anyone tracking how these lakes change over time.
- Lakes
- Great Salt Lake (north and south arms reported separately), Salton Sea, Mono Lake, Pyramid Lake, Walker Lake, and Lake Abert.
- Format
- One row per lake per month, in CSV and Parquet, with a data dictionary explaining each column.
- Download
- Files will be on Zenodo with a DOI, and mirrored on Hugging Face, when version 1.0 is published.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| lake | Lake name, and arm where a lake is split |
| month | Calendar month, as YYYY-MM |
| area_km2 | Open-water area in square kilometers |
| area_low / area_high | Uncertainty range for the area |
| quality | Flag for months with limited or uncertain observations |
Select a row to see more. New datasets are added to this table as they are published.
Release standard
What every release includes
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A DOIDigital Object Identifier. A permanent link, like a serial number, that always points to one exact version of the dataset, so citations don't break. for each version
Every release gets a permanent identifier, and older versions stay available to cite.
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Documented method
We publish the definitions, processing steps, and code along with the data.
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UncertaintyA range showing how far the true value could reasonably be from the published number.
Values come with an uncertainty range and quality flagsShort codes on each value that warn about conditions like heavy cloud cover or too few observations.. If a period has no usable data, we leave it blank rather than fill it in.
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Validation
We check results against independent records and publish that comparison.
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Corrections
When we find an error, we fix it in a new version and note the change in the changelogA running list of what changed in each version and why..
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Update schedule
Each dataset says how often it updates, and releases follow that schedule.
Access and use
Access and license
- Where
- Each dataset has a summary page here. The files are hosted on ZenodoA free research data archive run by CERN. It assigns DOIs and keeps every version., with a copy on Hugging FaceA widely used platform for sharing datasets, with a built-in preview of the data..
- License
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0A standard open license, often shortened to CC BY 4.0. Anyone may copy, share, and adapt the data, including commercially, as long as they give credit.. You can reuse the data for any purpose as long as you credit Heimdall Research and cite the version you used.
- Sources
- Open satellite imagery and government data. We include any attribution the original source requires.
- Collaborate
- If you work on related research, send us an email.