SWOT Average - Lake

The SWOT Level-2 Lake Average dataset provides vectorized lake data - including water surface elevation, water surface area, and derived storage change - from an aggregate cycle of continent-passes of the High Resolution data stream of the SWOT KaRIn instrument, along with appropriate uncertainties and flags.

Similar to the SWOT Level-2 River Average dataset , the SWOT Level-2 Lake Average dataset provides information for SWOT Prior Lake Database lakes on a per-cycle basis. The SWOT Level-2 Lake Average dataset provides the mean values of the Water Surface Elevation (WSE), area, and storage change over the different observations of a given lake within the cycle.

The datasetalso provides the minimum, maximum, and median WSE over the cycle as well as the area and storage change that coincide with the minimum, maximum, and median WSE. The product also provides quality flags and uncertainty estimates.

The intent of the L2_HR_LakeAvg product is to provide summary information of KaRIn lake observations over wide spatial scales and relatively coarse, regular temporal sampling in a manner that is easily digestible for large-scale analyses (e.g., assimilation models).

The SWOT Level-2 Lake Average dataset is available in basin-cycle granules similar to the granules of the SWOT Level-2 River Average dataset. It is organized only by SWOT Prior Lake Database lake, equivalent to the SWOT Level-2 Lake Single Pass - Prior products.

The present dataset is available only during the science phase (not the calibration phase) of the mission.

The dataset was generated by the SWOT Mission Center.

Major SWOT product versions are called “baseline”. Currently, on our platform, you can download and manipulate products from both baseline C and D. Baseline C covers the period from March 28, 2023 to May 05, 2025. After this date, only baseline D products are available. A global reprocessing is on-going to produce baseline D products for the full SWOT activity period. Baseline D products are so you might find some gap in baseline D until the end of the reprocessing. General, global and up-to-date information on SWOT products can be find in the . For a focus on how to distinguish between Baseline C and D products along with most significant changes in products, please refer to the and the slides. Finally, you will find below links to the Product Description Document (PDD) for a thorough look at the product: