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Description

The Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Water Mask (MOD44W) Version 6.1 data product provides a global map of surface water at 250 meter (m) spatial resolution. The data are available annually from 2000 to present. MOD44W Version 6.1 is derived using a decision tree classifier trained with MODIS data and validated with the Version 5 MOD44W data product. A series of masks are applied to address known issues caused by terrain shadow, burn scars, cloudiness, or ice cover in oceans. Version 6.1 is the generation of a time series rather than a simple static representation of water, given that water bodies fluctuate in size and location over time due to both natural and anthropogenic causes. Provided in each MOD44W Version 6.1 Hierarchical Data Format 4 (HDF4) file are layers for land water mask and water body classification. A quality assurance (QA) layer provides users with information on the determination of water. The new seven class water classification layer provides values for shallow ocean, land, shoreline, inland water, ephemeral water, deep inland water, moderate ocean, deep ocean, and a classification deemed to fall outside of the projection.

Known Issues

  • The seven_class SDS layer legend for classes 4 and 5 are incorrectly listed as Deep Inland Water and Ephemeral Water in the data for the entire mission period. Users are requested to follow the legend provided in the User Guide.
  • For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to the MODIS Version 6.1 Water Mask data product (1) Additional data files will be produced annually and are scheduled for distribution in the first quarter of the calendar year, (2) Seven-class water body classification layer produced at 250 meter resolution is provided in tiled format, and (3) For Collection 6.1 and beyond, Antarctica data are now being produced.

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra
Instruments
MODIS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
250 Meters x 250 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-01-01 to Present
Temporal Resolution
1 Year
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/MODAPS)
Concept ID
C2565805847-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
7927
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Reflectance ,
Total Surface Water

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Carroll, M., DiMiceli, C., Townshend, J., Sohlberg, R., Hubbard, A., Wooten, M., Spradlin, C., Gill, R., Strong, S., Burke, A., Blanco-Rojas, M., & Frost, M. (2024). MODIS/Terra Land Water Mask Derived from MODIS and SRTM L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD44W.061 Date Accessed: 2026-02-17

File Naming Convention

MOD44W.A2024001.h01v11.061.2025059193128.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD44W) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2024001), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h01v11), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025059193128), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
Seven_class Water Body Classification Layer N/A uint8 250 0 to 7 N/A
Water_mask Land/Water Mask N/A uint8 250 0 to 1 N/A
Water_mask_QA Quality Assurance (QA) N/A uint8 10 1 to 9 N/A
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