Ricardo Torres - Geospatial Analyst

work

about me

Using Google Earth Engine

Where

Michoácan, Mexico

When

June 2026

Type

Individual Class Project

Tools

Google Earth Engine

Inkscape

Skills Used

Remote Sensing

Where

Michoácan, Mexico

Lake Pátzcuaro's Dwindling Lake Presence

With Google Earth Engine

Lakes are drying up all over the world,

Lake Pátzcuaro is no different.

Lakes are drying up all over the world,

Lake Pátzcuaro is no different.

1972

2025

WHY HERE?

Lake Pátzcuaro has a personal connection to me as my parents told me how small the lake has gotten compared to its size back in their childhood. During my class on remote sensing, we learned about some of the CORONA program, which photographed various parts of Earth from the 1960s to the early 1970s, including this specific lake (left) and proved my parents' point of it being significantly larger than it is today (right).

This drastic change in appearance inspired me to explore this more and spread awareness through visualizations of the change in water presence between 2018 & 2025.

FORMULA

With the focus being on the lake's water presence, the Normalized Differential Water Index (NDWI) is the best method to use as it highlights the water and avoids non-water areas by utilizing the green and near-infrared bands from the satellite data provided.

NDVI - 500M Scale

NDVI - 500M Scale

NDWI - 500M Scale

NDWI - 500M Scale

This NDWI color palette ranges between brown hues, indicating land areas, and blue hues demonstrating varying levels of water presence in an area. While there are other formulas that capture water elements, like the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), their primary focus is typically not on the water presence in bodies of water.

FINDINGS

Between 2018 & 2025, the lake shrunk.

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

The change may not be obvious at first when looking at individual photos.

NDWI - 2KM Scale

However, when you look at these photos through yearly composites using the NDWI in a timelapse, the shrinkage becomes more obvious. Most of this shrinkage occurred in the southern half of Lake Pátzcuaro and this decrease in water presence can be due to various possible factors:

🌵

Droughts

Mexico faced a drought in 2024. Without rainfall, lakes all over the country were not able to replenish their water. However, people still needed it for their crops and livestock.

🌵

Droughts

Mexico faced a drought in 2024. Without rainfall, lakes all over the country were not able to replenish their water. However, people still needed it for their crops and livestock.

🥑

Overexploitation

There has been an increase in avocado farmers across Michoácan, Mexico. Avocados are a water-intensive crop since they use a lot of water to help grow. This kind of overconsumption leads to lake water levels to decrease.

🥑

Overexploitation

LIMITATIONS

With there being many possible factors, there is no single solution ton the lake's overall decrease in water. It is also difficult to fully investigate these factors without being there in person. This includes looking into the kinds of privacy regulations and permissions needed on collecting data on peoples' crops, especially since this is all taking place in another country.

REFLECTION

Looking back, I would have liked to dive deeper into the factors related to different crops and investigate the growth of avocado farms in the surrounding area, as well as factors that help replenish water in the lake like rainfall to corroborate it with news reports on the droughts that Mexico has experienced in the past. That way, there is more context on the situation at hand for local government officials alongside Mexican residents to understand and plan an according solution to a problem that affects everyone in and out of Lake Pátzcuaro.