Observation of Hydrological Processes Using Remote Sensing

The availability of spatial information on water quantity and quality enables closure of the water budget at river basin and continental scales to the point where effective water management is essential. Geo-information science and EO are vital in achieving a better understanding of the water cycle and better monitoring, analysis, prediction, and management of the world’s water resources.

Improving the prediction of variations in the global water-cycle, based on better knowledge of the hydrological processes and its close linkage with the energy cycle, is a key contribution to mitigation of water-related damages and sustainable human development. In many cases, the assimilation of space-based data and high-resolution in-situ data in a modelling system provides a powerful tool for effectively addressing water management issues. The chapter in this book presents the present state-of-art and application of EO datasets that are of relevance for studying the global water-cycle.