Half-meter topobathymetric elevation model and elevation-area-volume tables for Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho, 2002-2018

Bear Lake is a large freshwater lake that formed through tectonism in a half graben valley across the Utah and Idaho border. It serves as a critical water resource by storing water and regulating Bear River flows that support downstream ecosystems and agriculture in the Great Salt Lake basin. This data release includes an assimilated topobathymetric raster of Bear Lake comprising interpolated bathymetry from 2002 (Denny and Colman, 2003) and Quality Level 1 lidar from 2016 (Utah Geospatial Resource Center, 2016) and 2018 (Utah Geospatial Resource Center, 2018) and the results of an elevation-area-volume assessment. Denny and Colman (2003) compiled a detailed bathymetric map and provided contour data for use in geospatial information systems; the raw point data from this survey were used for this data release to interpolate the bathymetry of Bear Lake. The topobathymetric dataset was generated with a horizontal projection of UTM Zone 12N, North American Datum of 1983, Geoid 12b at a 0.5-meter horizontal resolution, and referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) in meters. Relationships between elevation with area and volume were calculated on the USGS Hovenweep high performance computer (Falgout and others, 2023) at 0.01-meter intervals from the bottom of Bear Lake (1747.39 meters above NAVD88) to 1808.00 meters above NAVD88 which is approximately the elevation of the highways and roads that surround Bear Lake.