The Application of Remote Sensing to Improve Irrigation Accounting Systems: A Review

Water resources are increasingly scarce, with groundwater overexploitation causing major declines in quantity and quality. Effective water accounting is essential for sustainable management, which requires measuring irrigation water use despite limited metering. Traditional modeling approaches suffer from errors when there are narrow spatial coverages. Digital agriculture and remote sensing offer alternatives by enabling large-scale, cost-effective, and near-real-time monitoring. However, issues of accuracy, methodological consistency, and integration with governance frameworks still restrict operational use. This review followed the PRISMA protocol, screening 1485 documents and selecting 79 studies on remote sensing for irrigation water accounting. A structured labeling process classified papers into Technological Readiness, Management Impact, Implementation Barriers, Policy Integration, and Innovation/Gaps. Findings show a strong focus on management benefits and technological innovation, while institutional and policy aspects remain limited. Although many studies addressed multiple themes, governance integration and real-world barriers were often overlooked. Research is concentrated in digitally advanced regions, with limited attention to water-scarce areas in the Global South. The review concludes that although remote sensing improves efficiency and data availability, adoption is challenged by institutional, regulatory, and methodological gaps. Interdisciplinary work, stronger validation, and stakeholder engagement are essential for transitioning these tools into operational components of integrated water management.