TPLake-MED: a monthly extent dataset  for lakes on the Tibetan Plateau

Zhao, Siyu; Zhao, Xiang; Zhao, Jiacheng; Zhang, Xin; Liu, Xingyu; Yao, Chengzhi

doi:10.5194/essd-18-4219-2026

Articles | Volume 18, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4219-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4219-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 6

Data description article

|

22 Jun 2026

Data description article |

| 22 Jun 2026

TPLake-MED: a monthly extent dataset for lakes on the Tibetan Plateau

Siyu Zhao, Xiang Zhao, Jiacheng Zhao, Xin Zhang, Xingyu Liu, and Chengzhi Yao

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4219-2026-supplement

Data sets

Monthly lake area changes (> 10 km2) on the Tibetan Plateau (2000–2024) Siyu Zhao et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19205532

MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance 8-Day L3 Global 500 m SIN Grid V061 E. Vermote https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD09A1.061

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Short summary

We constructed a monthly vector boundary dataset (2000–2024) for lakes ≥ 10 km² on the Tibetan Plateau using Google Earth Engine and MODIS data. A spectral-index random forest (93.21 % accuracy) and post-processing enhanced boundary precision. The dataset (TPLake-MED) shows steady lake expansion (~ 34.91 km² yr⁻¹) with peak area in September/October. Monthly changes are more significant in the west, and smaller lakes are more sensitive, offering insights for climate and ecosystem management.