Remote Sensing Hydrology Revisited: Advances, Persistent Challenges, and a Science‐Driven Agenda for the Next Decade

Abstract

In the WRR 50th Anniversary Special Collection, Lettenmaier et al. (2015, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR017616) provided a timely account of how satellite remote sensing evolved from a niche capability in hydrology into a mainstream driver of hydrologic discovery, as the community shifted from imagery toward validated Earth Observation (EO) products and open‐access data systems. In this Commentary for the WRR 60th Anniversary Special Collection, we revisit and extend that synthesis and argue that the next step is not just more EO data, but a more accountable remote sensing hydrology. The challenge is to integrate remote sensing more directly into hydrologic science questions in ways that ground networks alone cannot provide consistently across scales. We center this Commentary on a core question: How can EO be used, credibly and consistently, to quantify where water is stored, how it moves, and how the hydrologic cycle is changing, in ways that improve hydrologic understanding and decision value beyond what ground networks alone can provide? We summarize key advances since 2015 that sharpen water‐cycle observability, expand analysis‐ready data systems and computation, and accelerate hybrid inference, while highlighting persistent challenges that continue to limit credible hydrologic inference near thresholds and extremes. We conclude with a science‐driven agenda focused on closing observability gaps, improving record coherence, advancing uncertainty‐aware inference, strengthening end‐to‐end traceability from measurements to societal impacts, and sustaining climate‐quality EO records for hydrologic science in a changing climate, while recognizing that these advances will depend on continuity of observing capability and credible follow‐on mission strategies.