Integration of Remote Sensing and GIS for Hydrologic Studies

Abstract

Recently, the importance of integration of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) to study hydrologic processes has been realized by water-resources workers. However, the interface between remotely sensed data and GIS is still weak and many problems must be solved before it becomes widely available. In the meantime, the public use of satellite data to manage water resources is still in its infancy, and more application techniques are urgently in need of development. Thus this chapter is separated into two major parts. The first part is to introduce general information about remote sensing systems, GIS, and the global positioning system (GPS). The second part is to exemplify successful applications of the integration of remote sensing and GIS in hydrologic studies such as land use/land cover classification, precipitation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, water extent, groundwater, water quality, and runoff.