  Scintillation noise is a major limitation of ground base photometric
precision. An extensive dataset of stellar scintillation collected at 11
astronomical sites world-wide with MASS instruments was used to estimate the
scintillation noise of large telescopes in the case of fast photometry and
traditional long-exposure regime. Statistical distributions of the
corresponding parameters are given. The scintillation noise is mostly
determined by turbulence and wind in the upper atmosphere and comparable at all
sites, with slightly smaller values at Mauna Kea and largest noise at Tolonchar
in Chile. We show that the classical Young's formula under-estimates the
scintillation noise.The temporal variations of the scintillation noise are also
similar at all sites, showing short-term variability at time scales of 1 -- 2
hours and slower variations, including marked seasonal trends (stronger
scintillation and less clear sky during local winter). Some correlation was
found between nearby observatories.
