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Lake datasets are made up of a variety of measurements from lake sediments and bog deposits that can be used to indicate past water temperature, physical properties, biology, and chemistry. The study of past conditions of inland freshwater bodies is called paleolimnology.

Arctic lake

Accessing Data at the World Data Service for Paleoclimatology


Search Lake Datasets

Search through lake data studies using Investigator, Title, Location Name, Parameters, and Latitude/Longitude Bounds.

Launch Lake Data Search


Search All Paleoclimatology Data

A free text search of our entire archive.

Launch Paleo Data Search


Interactive Map

Select study locations by region, proximity to a point, or text-based attributes.

Launch Interactive Map


Google Earth Map

Locate and download lake data studies using a Google Earth map interface. Google Earth must be installed to use this search tool.

Download KMZ File


NCEI Paleo Web Service

Use the NCEI Paleo Web Service to access lake study metadata records.

API Documentation


Browse Lake Datasets

Contributing Data

To contribute to the Lake data archive, review our instructions for contributing data. Prospective data providers can email paleo@noaa.gov to submit data and study description information.

Other Data Archives

Additional sources outside of NCEI for data and information on lake sediments and climate science.