Skip to main content

A community’s access to water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and agriculture depends on having somewhere to store it. Water storage infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs, is essential for long-term survival. The study of water storage is an important part of understanding hydrological processes in regions around the world, and can help predict drought and flood risks. 

 NASA’s Earth-observing satellites capture reservoirs, dams, lakes, and other elements of water storage infrastructure in their surveys of the globe. Additionally, NASA curates socioeconomic data to assess the impact of water storage on people and communities.

Our data products useful to the study of water storage include dam and reservoir databases, water security grids, and freshwater availability trends. Some of these resources are regional in scope, while others survey the entire populated area of Earth. 

Get Water Storage Data

Access a range of datasets and data tools to further your water storage research.

Join Our Community of NASA Data Users

While NASA data are openly available without restriction, an Earthdata Login is required to download data and to use some tools with full functionality.

Learn About the Benefits of Earthdata Login

Frequently Asked Questions

Earthdata Forum

Our online forum provides a space for users to browse thousands of FAQs about research needs, data, and data applications. You can also submit new questions for our experts to answer.

Submit Questions to Earthdata Forumand View Expert Responses

Earthdata
Forum