Geology

Climate change

Aerospace engineering

Altimeter

Mathematics

Physical geography

Oceanography

Engineering

Water level

Mathematical analysis

Satellite

Geography

Geometry

Plateau (mathematics)

Climatology

Cartography

Elevation (ballistics)

Environmental science

Remote sensing

Geophysical Research Letters

Lake level change is an effective indicator of climate change, because it reflects the dynamic balance of water input and loss. Here we provide a first look of Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite‐2 (ICESat‐2) on the lakes of the Tibetan Plateau. ICESat‐2 doubles the number of lakes observed using predecessor ICESat data. The ICESat/ICESat‐2 altimetry data between 2003 and 2018 are in excellent agreement with in situ measurements from Qinghai Lake ( R 2 = 0.95, root‐mean‐square error = 0.10 m) and with gauge observations made on 3 December 2018 (&lt; 2 cm). The 62 lakes examined show a mean rate of water level change of 0.28 ± 0.03 m/year in 2003–2018, with 58 lakes increasing (mean rate 0.30 ± 0.03 m/year), and 4 lakes decreasing (mean rate −0.12 ± 0.06 m/year). A total change of lake water storage of ~14 Gt/year is estimated. The results suggest that ICESat‐2 data will be an important tool for future lake level change studies.

Tibetan Plateau's Lake Level and Volume Changes From NASA's ICESat/ICESat‐2 and Landsat Missions