Taking advantage of the advances in remotely sensed data, the overarching goal of this research was to develop methods and protocols for mapping irrigated areas of India using a MODIS time series (500 m resolution, from 2001 to 2003). India was selected as the study area for several reasons. First, the country is the first (Siebert et al., 2006) or the second (Thenkabail et al., 2009a) most irrigated country in the world along with China. Second, the field-plot data and national statistical data on irrigated areas were available for the country for comparison with satellite-sensorderived data. Third, the population of 1.1 billion with a rapidly growing economy makes India an interesting country for a study on irrigated areas, their water use, food production, and food security issues.