Review of the Role of Remote Sensing Technology in Water Resources Management

Abstract

The human race through the ages has striven to locate and develop water resources. One of the main challenges in sustainable management and utilization of both surface and ground water resource is obtaining accurate hydrological, meteorological and topographic information which are essential inputs in identification of opportunities and treats. Remote monitoring, via satellite assets and distributed in situ sensors, may help meet many of the challenges of information asymmetry and data gaps in developing countries. Total suspended soils (sediment concentration), oil pollution, eutrophication, municipal and industrial discharge and other water quality deteriorating factors can be observed through using remote sensing technologies. Obtaining accurate precipitation data for hydrological simulations and predictions is a challenging task in developing countries and regions with complex terrains that have no or sparse rain gauge networks. Recently, the rapid development of satellite remote sensing technology has provided hydrologists an unprecedented opportunity to better estimate precipitation for hydrological applications. Remotely sensed data acquired by operational satellites are more and more widely used for the identification, monitoring and delineation of lake mapping at regional or global scales. Currently different remote sensing satellites like: AQUA/TERA (MODIS), QuickBird , SPOT 1-5, IKONOS 1-2, LANDSAT 7. NOAA-GEOS, NOAA-POES and others are being used for obtaining the information about floods inundation areas and flood damage assessment. Even though ground water potential can be identified by different methods, remote sensing technique provides an advantage of having access to large coverage, even in inaccessible areas.