Topic: Observing Human Infuences on the Water Cycle from SWOT Data
Goal: Study and compare reservoir and lake elevation change in the Mississippi River Basin and plot river profiles in a heavily controlled section of the river to observe human influence on the water cycle using Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Data.
Datasets:
- Location: /home/jovyan/shared/NASA_Summer_School_2024/swot/materials/data_downloads
- SWOT lakes - SWOT_L2_HR_LakeSP_2.0
- SWOT rivers - SWOT_L2_HR_RiverSP_2.0
Scripts:
- Location: /home/jovyan/shared/NASA_Summer_School_2024/swot/materials
- Topic_SWOT.ipynb
Geographic foci: Mississippi River Basin
Questions:
- Often in heavily managed rivers, locks and dams are prevalent, influencing river flow and water surface elevation (WSE). Plot a river profile of WSE over a specified portion of the Mississippi River. Can you pinpoint the location of the dams and locks based on the water surface elevation profiles? How would we expect the longitudinal profile to look without these dams or locks?
- The Mississippi River Basin has many man made reservoirs and natural lakes. Here, we'll compare water surface elevation variability from a reservoir (Willow Reservoir, SWOT ID: 7421108633) and a lake (Fence Lake, SWOT ID: 7421110322) in Wisconsin. SWOT observes reservoirs and lakes > 250 m x 250 m currently over the released observable record (July 2023 - present day). How do the water levels change over time and compare to each other? Do your findings concur with this study that used ICESat-2 data? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03262-3
- 3. Even if there are no reservoirs, dams or locks along a stretch of river, what other avenues can you see humans influencing the flow of surface water? How about the water cycle in general? What other NASA datasets could be useful for analyzing human influence on the water cycle?
Contact Scientists:
Project Server (CMDA): https://hub.jpl-cmda.org