Lakes and reservoirs are habitats for vital ecosystems and important sources of water for human health, food production, culture, recreation, and industries. For example, the Great Lakes are the rugged and beautiful home to myriad of animal communities and also the location of large fishing and shipping industries. Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota spawns the mighty Mississippi River, which supports almost innumerable thriving natural and human life all the way to Louisiana. Similarly, human-made reservoirs often serve as large sources of water for people where there normally wouldn't be any, such as in dry or mountainous areas.

Given the local importance of lakes and reservoirs and their contributions to broader ecosystems, scientists and decision-makers are interested in understanding their processes, health, relationship to animal and human life and activities, and how to best manage them.

NASA has many datasets to help researchers study lakes and reservoirs ranging from dam and reservoirs databases to optical imagery of remote waterbodies taken by platforms in space.