Assessing Hydrological Resilience in Inland Lakes Using Multi-Mission Satellite Altimetry

Inland lakes increasingly face multiple stresses driven by climate change, anthropogenic pressures, hydrological modifications, and long-term ecosystem alterations. In this context, hydrological resilience refers to a lake’s ability to maintain stable water-level behaviour under disturbance. Whether inland lakes are losing resilience or approaching critical state transitions remains unclear, in part due to fragmented monitoring networks and limited availability of long-term lake-level observations.

This study introduces a resilience assessment framework that integrates multi-mission satellite altimetry to evaluate stability patterns in lake-level dynamics. The approach relies on radar and laser satellite altimetry to construct harmonized lake-level time series, using data from missions such as Sentinel-3, ICESat-2, and SWOT where available. In-situ measurements are incorporated as an independent validation benchmark to assess signal reliability. The resulting dataset is analysed within a resilience-based diagnostic framework. The aim is to determine whether observed fluctuations reflect stable hydrological functioning or signal increasing variability and reduced resilience.

Preliminary analysis indicates that satellite-derived lake water-level observations can provide meaningful signals for resilience-oriented assessment. These signals can reveal emerging hydrological instability earlier, particularly in lakes where field measurements are limited or challenging to maintain. These findings highlight the value of satellite-based lake-level monitoring for early-warning applications and adaptive management planning. The proposed framework is scalable and transferable, enabling resilience assessment across lakes with diverse monitoring and data conditions.