Remote Sensing in Water Resources Management Models

Dear Colleagues,

Almost 74% of the Earth's surface is covered with water. However, only 0.02% of all the water on Earth is in streams, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs as freshwater available for direct human consumption. The remaining freshwater is found underground (0.6%), in the atmosphere (0.001%), and in the icecaps (2.2%). Freshwater is a scarce resource worldwide due to land use and climate changes. Hence, the need for spatiotemporal data on freshwater, for water resource management, is increasing. However, the acquisition of spatial and temporal data on freshwater resources has been a major challenge facing ecological and hydrological researchers and policymakers. With the advent of remote sensing technology in the near past, data collection has fundamentally improved with the introduction of satellite sensors with higher spatial and temporal resolution on space-borne platforms. Most of these datasets are freely available on the Internet. This has been further advanced by the development of open-source remote sensing services, spatially distributed hydrological models, and software for data processing, analysis, and visualization. The performance of remote sensing data and hydrological models to capture the effect of ongoing development and management decisions, however, has to be evaluated. Spatiotemporal analysis of freshwater dynamics under land use and climate changes using spatially explicit hydrological models and remote sensing data can provide information for water resource management, the effect of ongoing developments, management decisions, and policy implications. Therefore, water resource modeling is essential for sustainable water resource management. The Topic “Remote Sensing in Water Resources Management Models” invites high-quality papers focused on the design and development of methods, strategies, and new technologies for water resource management and development impact assessment using hydrological models and remote sensing technologies under land use and climate changes. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Land-use change and water resource management;
• Climate change and water scarcity;
• Remote sensing and water resource management;
• Hydrological modeling and remote sensing;
• Water resource management and sustainable development;
• Population growth and water resource scarcity;
• Spatiotemporal dynamics of water resource management;
• New technologies for water resource management;
• Methods for water resource modeling.

Dr. Jinsong Deng
Prof. Dr. Yang Hong
Prof. Dr. Salah Elsayed
Topic Editors