Abstract

Currently, adequate and reliable water supply is indispensable for the entire planet. Abrupt changes in regular water distribution - such as shortage or inundation - may be catastrophic. To circumvent issues regarding overload and scarcity of water, huge sums of capital have to be invested and knowledge from several areas like hydrology and civil engineering can be applied to manage and allocate water. Since near ¾ of the Earth corresponds to oceans, water scarcity results from poor temporal and spatial water allocation as well as unsatisfactory quality to fulfill local needs. This makes water a restrictive factor for the progress of agriculture and industries. Existing information on water control systems is almost always insufficient leading to some critical situations. These unsatisfactory effects could have been evaded if enough hydrologic, geologic and climatologic data for planning had been readily available. This text aims at showing the relevance of remote sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) techniques when it comes to acquire hydrologic data and to support operational as well as managerial hydrology. This work shows how image processing can be applied to help hydrology