A Database of In Situ Surface and Subsurface Temperatures for Inland Lakes across North America from 2010-2022

In addition to being potential indicators of climate change, inland lakes reflect changes in ecosystem function and stability, and can even have feedback interactions with surrounding meteorological and hydrologic systems. Recording and reporting environmental data on these lakes is critical, yet we find that any individual lake (particularly in North America) may either not be monitored at all, or it may be monitored through some combination of legacy in situ and contemporary remote sensing platforms. Our research focuses on the use of lake surface water temperatures to validate predictions of lake models in numerical weather prediction modeling systems and their representation of lake surface skin and near-surface air temperatures. Here, to support this goal, we provide a status update on the development of a database for in situ surface water temperatures of multiple North American inland lakes. Variables representing other physical features, such as subsurface temperatures, are included (if available). Our findings to date indicate that in situ data is often distributed across disparate platforms, yet when aggregated leads to multiple in situ data points allowing for more robust spatial validation of lake models. All of the lakes included in our database, to date, are large enough (over 30 km2) to be suitable for modern high-resolution lake models and for validation against satellite observations. In addition to providing spatially-robust validation of lake representation in numerical weather models, our new database leverages similar previous continental and global data collection efforts to provide a valuable long-term perspective on the evolution of lake temperatures over time.