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The LAGOS-US GEO data package is one of the core data modules of LAGOS-US, an extensible research-ready platform designed to study the 479,950 lakes and reservoirs larger than or equal to 1 ha in the conterminous US (48 states plus the District of Columbia). The GEO module contains data on the geospatial and temporal ecological setting (e.g., land use, terrain, soils, climate, hydrology, atmospheric deposition, and human influence) quantified at multiple spatial divisions (e.g., equidistant buffers around lakes, watersheds, hydrologic basins, political boundaries, and ecoregions) relevant to the LAGOS-US lake population defined in the LAGOS-US LOCUS module. The database design that supports the LAGOS-US research platform was created based on several important design features: lakes are the fundamental unit of consideration, all lakes in the spatial extent above the minimum size must be represented, and most information is connected to individual lakes. The design is modular, interoperable (the modules can be used with each other), and extensible (future database modules can be developed and used in the LAGOS-US research platform by others). Users are encouraged to use the other two core data modules that are part of the LAGOS-US platform: LOCUS (location, identifiers, and physical characteristics of lakes and their watersheds) and LIMNO (in situ lake physical, chemical, and biological measurements through time) that are each found in their own data packages. 

The LAGOS-US LIMNO data package is one of the core data modules of LAGOS-US, an extensible research-ready platform designed to study the 479,950 lakes and reservoirs larger than or equal to 1 ha in the conterminous US (48 states plus the District of Columbia). The LIMNO module contains in situ observations of 47 parameters of lake physics, chemistry, and biology (hereafter referred to as chemistry) from lake surface samples (defined as observations taken from the epilimnion of a lake) obtained from the Water Quality Portal, the National Lakes Assessment (2007, 2012, 2017), and NEON programs. LIMNO provides 3,511,020 observations across all parameters collected between 1975 and 2021 from 20,329 lakes; the number of observations per lake ranged from 1 to 20,605 with a median of 32. The database design that supports the LAGOS-US research platform was created based on several important design features: lakes are the fundamental unit of consideration, all lakes in the spatial extent above the minimum size must be represented, and most information is connected to individual lakes. The design is modular, interoperable (the modules can be used with each other, as well as other comprehensive lake data products such as the USGS NHD), and extensible (future database modules can be developed and used in the LAGOS-US research platform by others). Users are encouraged to use the other two core data modules that are part of the LAGOS-US platform: LOCUS (location, identifiers, and physical characteristics of lakes and their watersheds) and GEO (characteristics defining geospatial and temporal ecological setting quantified at multiple spatial divisions) that are each found in their own data packages. 

This data package, LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0, is one of the core data modules of the LAGOS-US platform that provides an extensible research-ready platform to study the 479,950 lakes and reservoirs larger than or equal to 1 ha in the conterminous US (48 states plus the District of Columbia). This data module contains information on the location, identifiers, and physical characteristics of lakes and their watersheds. The characteristics in this module include: variables that can be obtained from GIS data such as location and geometry; variables that can be derived using GIS processing such as lake watersheds and their geometry, lake glaciation history, and lake connectivity; and commonly used identifiers from GIS and other data products useful for linking with LAGOS-US. LOCUS is based on a snapshot of the high-resolution National Hydrography Dataset product available at the initiation of the project that provided the basis for locating, identifying, and characterizing the geometry of all lakes in LAGOS-US. The database design that supports the LAGOS-US research platform was created based on several important design features. Lakes are the fundamental unit of consideration, all lakes in the spatial extent must be represented (above a minimum size) and most information is connected to individual lakes. The design is modular, interoperable (the modules can be used with each other), and extensible (future database modules can be developed and used in the LAGOS-US research platform by others). Users are encouraged to use the other 2 core data modules that are part of the LAGOS-US platform: GEO (which includes geospatial ecological context at multiple spatial and temporal scales for lakes and their watersheds) and LIMNO (in situ lake surface-water physical, chemical, and biological measurements through time) that are each found in their own data packages. 

Abstract Given how important lakes are to people, it might seem safe to assume that careful thought has been put into the naming of lakes, and that lake names reflect the high societal value people place on lakes. We examined these assumptions by analyzing the official names in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System for the 479,950 lakes ≥ 1 ha in the conterminous U.S. We found that 83% of lakes were unnamed and most of these were small lakes with 80% of unnamed lakes being smaller than 4 ha. Based on the 83,115 named lakes, we found that lake names reflect peoples' everyday lives, that lakes can inspire creativity (although the most common lake name is “Mud”), that Native American and indigenous languages have played a role in lake naming, and that there are regional differences in lake names. Unfortunately, we also found that derogatory terms were part of some lake names. We advocate for thoughtful and inclusive official naming of the 400,000 unnamed lakes in the U.S., as well as renaming of the lakes with derogatory terms to help focus attention on the importance of lakes to local communities and nations.