The purpose of the work is to study the dynamics of changes in the surface water area in Lake Ladoga catchment and its separate catchments using remote sensing data over a long period time. The processed archives of the Earth’s water surface “Global Surface Water” are considered as the initial information. In the present study the following datasets are used: the “Occurrence”, “Occurrence Change Intensity”, and “Transition”. They are most suitable for solving this task. The calculations are made on the cloud-based geospatial data analysis platform Google Earth Engine. The geospatial distribution of surface water was obtained in the study area for the period from 1984 to 2019. It is based on the frequency with which the pixel belongs to the “water” class. Maps of the changes in the frequency of surface water occurrence when comparing two periods: 1984–1999 and 2000–2015 in the catchment area were made. The map of classification of surface water was constructed, which is based on changes in its state. By “change in the state of surface water” it meant the occurrence as a result of intra-annual and interannual variability (or as a result of the appearance / disappearance) of seasonal (or constant) surface water. The analysis results showed a high percentage (about 90 %) of permanent surface water in the region. The territory of the Ilmen-Volkhovsky catchment area is more susceptible to changes. There, about 40 % of the surface water belongs to dynamic classes. The analysis of geospatial distribution maps revealed zones of environmental risk (drying out or flooding of certain places in the catchment), which require close monitoring. The results are important for solving environmental and socio-economic tasks concerned to the freshwater resources of the Ladoga catchment locality.