REVIEW ARTICLE Hydrological Parameters Estimation Using Remote Sensing and GIS for Indian Region: A Review Praveen Kumar Thakur 1 • Bhaskar Ramchandra Nikam 1 • Vaibhav Garg 1 • Shiv Prasad Aggarwal 1 • Arpit Chouksey 1 • Pankaj Ramji Dhote 1 • Surajit Ghosh 2 Received: 26 July 2017 / Revised: 29 August 2017 / Accepted: 17 September 2017 Ó The National Academy of Sciences, India 2017 Abstract Monitoring and assessment of hydrological parameters are the key elements for the sustainable development of water resources of any country. The vari- ous components of the hydrological cycle also known as hydrological parameters are highly dynamic in space and time. Quantification of hydrological parameters using tra- ditional methods provides limited, point based, information which is not sufficient for assessing spatio-temporal vari- ations in these parameters. Satellite based remote sensing has proven its usefulness in effective mapping/retrieval and monitoring of hydrological parameters such as precipita- tion, interception, soil moisture, surface runoff, water level and river flow, evapotranspiration, change in terrestrial water storage, etc. This review paper highlights the major work done in India for estimation of hydrological parameters using remote sensing. The basics of retrieval techniques, their applications in India, their validation and limitations are discussed in this paper. The progress of each technique from conventional optical remote sensing based to advance microwave remote sensing based hydrological parameters estimation has been presented. The integration of remote sensing derived hydrological parameters in water balance and land surface model is also presented. Keywords Water balance Á Remote sensing Á Hydrological parameters Á Rainfall Á Evapotranspiration Á Soil moisture Á Water level 1 Introduction Hydrological cycle parameters such as precipitation, sur- face runoff, evapotranspiration, interception, infiltration, change in soil moisture, river flow, and change in groundwater storage are part of Earth’s dynamic ecosys- tem. Each of the hydrological parameter plays an important role in our planet’s water and energy balance system. All these hydrological parameters can be quantified with the help of traditional methods of measurement such as rain and snow gauge for precipitation; lysimeter and atmometer for evapotranspiration; double ring infiltrometer for Infil- tration; electromagnetic, gravimetric, time domain reflec- tometry and volumetric methods for soil moisture; and piezometer for GW. However, these methods provide point based estimates of hydrological parameters. Therefore, remote sensing (RS) and related technologies provide an alternative for measurement or quantification of these parameters at larger spatial scale. Singh and Gupta [1] have reviewed different techniques of retrieval of various hydrological parameters using Indian and foreign RS & Praveen Kumar Thakur praveen@iirs.gov.in Bhaskar Ramchandra Nikam bhaskarnikam@iirs.gov.in Vaibhav Garg vaibhav@iirs.gov.in Shiv Prasad Aggarwal spa@iirs.gov.in Arpit Chouksey arpit@iirs.gov.in Pankaj Ramji Dhote pdh@iirs.gov.in Surajit Ghosh surajitghosh.ind@gmail.com 1 Water Resources Department, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), 4-Kalidas Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India 2 National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India 123 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. A Phys. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40010-017-0440-z