Water systems are building blocks for poverty alleviation, shared growth, sustainable development, and green growth strategies. They require data from in-situ observation networks. Budgetary and other constraints have taken a toll on their operation and there are many regions in the world where the data are scarce or unreliable. Increasingly, remote sensing satellite-based earth observation is becoming an alternative. This book briefly describes some key global water challenges, perspectives for remote sensing approaches, and their importance for water resources-related activities. It describes eight key types of water resources management variables, a list of sensors that can produce such information, and a description of existing data products with examples. Earth Observation for Water Resources Management provides a series of practical guidelines that can be used by project leaders to decide whether remote sensing may be useful for the problem at hand and suitable data sources to consider if so. The book concludes with a review of the literature on reliability statistics of remote-sensed estimations.

The book provides comprehensive information on possible applications of remote sensing data for hydrological monitoring and modelling as well as for water management decisions. Mathematical theory is provided only as far as it is necessary for understanding the underlying principles. The book is especially timely because of new programs and sensors that are or will be realised. ESA, NASA, NASDA as well as the Indian and the Brazilian Space Agency have recently launched satellites or developed plans for new sensor systems that will be especially pertinent to hydrology and water management. New techniques are presented whose structure differ from conventional hydrological models due to the nature of remotely sensed data.

Studies the low-cost alternative strategy of selective lining of watercourses to reduce seepage and increase irrigated areas in the Indian subcontinent. Satellite remote-sensing (SRS) is seen as a cost-effective evaluation tool in view of its large area of synoptic and repetitive coverage.

This book is a collection of overview articles showing how space-based observations, combined with hydrological modeling, have considerably improved our knowledge of the continental water cycle and its sensitivity to climate change. Two main issues are highlighted: (1) the use in combination of space observations for monitoring water storage changes in river basins worldwide, and (2) the use of space data in hydrological modeling either through data assimilation or as external constraints. The water resources aspect is also addressed, as well as the impacts of direct anthropogenic forcing on land hydrology (e.g. ground water depletion, dam building on rivers, crop irrigation, changes in land use and agricultural practices, etc.). Remote sensing observations offer important new information on this important topic as well, which is highly useful for achieving water management objectives.Over the past 15 years, remote sensing techniques have increasingly demonstrated their capability to monitor components of the water balance of large river basins on time scales ranging from months to decades: satellite altimetry routinely monitors water level changes in large rivers, lakes and floodplains. When combined with satellite imagery, this technique can also measure surface water volume variations. Passive and active microwave sensors offer important information on soil moisture (e.g. the SMOS mission) as well as wetlands and snowpack. The GRACE space gravity mission offers, for the first time, the possibility of directly measuring spatio-temporal variations in the total vertically integrated terrestrial water storage. When combined with other space observations (e.g. from satellite altimetry and SMOS) or model estimates of surface waters and soil moisture, space gravity data can effectively measure groundwater storage variations. New satellite missions, planned for the coming years, will complement the constellation of satellites monitoring waters on land. This is particularly the case for the SWOT mission, which is expected to revolutionize land surface hydrology. Previously published in Surveys in Geophysics, Volume 37, No. 2, 2016

This publication presents the results of an international workshop which was organized in Montpellier, France, in December 1995. The purpose of the workshop was to review the state of the art in the use of remote sensing for water resources assessment and management with special reference to operational techniques. Emphasis was given to surface hydrology, with applications for arid and semi-arid areas in developing countries for which such techniques are believed to be of particular relevance. Cette publication presente les resultats d'un atelier international qui a ete organise a Montpellier en decembre 1995 sur le theme ''Teledetection et ressources en eaux''. L'objectif de cet atelier etait de faire le point sur les techniques et methodes operationnelles d'utilisation de la teledetection pour l'evaluation et la gestion des ressources en eaux. L'accent a ete mis sur l'hydrologie de surface et sur des exemples d'application pratique de ces methodes. L'atelier s'est interesse tout particulierement aux problemes des pays arides et semi-arides en developpement pour lesquels ces techniques peuvent representer un atout important."

Remote Sensing of the Terrestrial Water Cycle is an outcome of the AGU Chapman Conference held in February 2012. This is a comprehensive volume that examines the use of available remote sensing satellite data as well as data from future missions that can be used to expand our knowledge in quantifying the spatial and temporal variations in the terrestrial water cycle. Volume highlights include: - An in-depth discussion of the global water cycle - Approaches to various problems in climate, weather, hydrology, and agriculture - Applications of satellite remote sensing in measuring precipitation, surface water, snow, soil moisture, groundwater, modeling, and data assimilation - A description of the use of satellite data for accurately estimating and monitoring the components of the hydrological cycle - Discussion of the measurement of multiple geophysical variables and properties over different landscapes on a temporal and a regional scale Remote Sensing of the Terrestrial Water Cycle is a valuable resource for students and research professionals in the hydrology, ecology, atmospheric sciences, geography, and geological sciences communities.