Global water mapping using MODIS tasseled cap indexes

Monitoring changes in water resources is very important due to water´s importance for daily life. MODIS data is acquired at a high temporal resolution, and it is expected to continue acquiring data for many more years, making its good data source for monitoring water change at the continental to global scale. Existing global maps of water are not consistent with each other, and may not be suitable for water monitoring. The objective of this study is to develop a method for automated water mapping and monitoring at continental to global scales using MODIS data. MODIS 2008 data, a cloud free dataset processed by CEReS Chiba University, were used. MODIS tasseled cap indexes were calculated and integrated in some combination models with the reference of some existing maps and a DEM to map global water coverage. The water map produced in this study was compared with some other existing global maps such as GLOBCover, MOD44W, and GLCNMO 2003. Results of the comparisons show that product of this study, MODIS2008_WM, is better than other existing maps for the purpose of water mapping.