New MODIS 250 meter Land–Water Mask

The LP DAAC has released a new MODIS 250 meter land–water mask (Short Name: MOD44W) on August 3, 2009. The new mask is primarily created with three different data inputs:

• The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Water Body Dataset (SWBD)
• The MOD44C, a non-public, 250 m global 16-day composite collection based on 8+ years of Terra MODIS data, and 6+ years of Aqua MODIS data
• The MODIS–based Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA), which is a 250 m MODIS level-1b mosaic for Antarctica

This marks the first time that such a global MODIS-SRTM land–water mask is offered publicly to end-users. This data set is provided in the same gridded tile structure that is common to several higher-level MODIS land products.