This submission includes publicly available data extracted in its original form. Please reference the Related Publication listed here for source and citation information:
NOAA Office for Coastal Management. (2025, March 1). Lake Level Viewer. Data Download. https://chs.coast.noaa.gov/htdata/Inundation/GreatLakes/BulkDownload/index.html. If you have questions about the underlying data stored here, please contact NOAA Office for Coastal Management by submitting this form: https://coast.noaa.gov/contactform/. If you have questions or recommendations related to this metadata entry and extracted data, please contact the CAFE Data Management team at: climatecafe@bu.edu.
This dataset consists of the geospatial data layers that are behind NOAA's Digital Coast Lake Level Viewer, which models lake level rise and flooding impacts along the US side of the Great Lakes. The water levels illustrate the extent and relative depth of water from 3 feet below to 10 feet above each lake's respective Low Water Datum (LWD). Water extent is as it would appear on a calm day with no wind-driven waves or seiche effect. The data do not consider natural processes such as erosion, subsidence, or future construction. The data are intended for use as a screening-level tool for planning and management decisions. Datasets are subdivided into the following folders, and in some cases are geographically segmented by portions of the individual lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, St. Clair, and Superior):
- DEMs: lidar-based high resolution digital elevation models stored as geotiffs
- Depth Rasters: rasters of lake level rise inundation from -3 ft to 10ft above the LWD as geotiffs
- Extent Rasters: single value rasters of lake level rise inundation from -3 ft to 10ft above the LWD as geotiffs
- Lake Level Vectors: polygon data representing the extent of lake level rise inundation as geopackages
Documentation for the LL tool and methodology for creating the datasets is included in a PDF file. https://chs.coast.noaa.gov/htdata/Inundation/GreatLakes/BulkDownload/index.html (2025-03-01)