BASIN-WIDE HYDROLOGIC MODELS ALLOW STAKEHOLDERS TO COLLECTIVELY DECIDE HOW TO ALLOCATE WATER FOR VARIOUS ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL NEEDS IN THE MOST EFFICIENT AND EQUITABLE WAY. HOWEVER MANY OF THESE MODELS NEGLECT TO ACCURATELY INCORPORATE DYNAMIC WATER BODIES THAT CAN HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON THE WATER BALANCE SUCH AS WETLANDS. DUE TO THE REMOTENESS AND VAST EXTENT OF MANY WETLANDS COLLECTING THE DATA REQUIRED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR ECO-HYDROLOGY IS OFTEN COST PROHIBITIVE AND INFEASIBLE. FORTUNATELY SATELLITE IMAGERY ALLOWS SCIENTISTS TO OBSERVE WETLANDS REMOTELY. OPPORTUNITIES NOW EXIST TO DERIVE KEY HYDROLOGIC VARIABLES WITH SUFFICIENT SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION TO DEVELOP MORE ACCURATE WETLAND HYDROLOGIC MODELS. THESE MODELS MAY THEN BE INCORPORATED INTO DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS SO THAT MANAGERS CAN APPRECIATE THE VITAL ROLES WETLANDS PLAY AND ADJUST POLICIES TO PRESERVE THEIR INTEGRITY AND SUSTAIN THEIR VALUABLE SERVICES. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A METHOD FOR UTILIZING REMOTE SENSING DATA TO IMPROVE WETLAND HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS IN WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT. THE RESEARCH PLAN INCLUDES THREE DISTINCT BUT CLOSELY INTERLINKED AREAS AIMING TO ADDRESS: (I) MULTI-TEMPORAL WETLAND INUNDATION MAPPING USING REMOTELY SENSED DATA (II) WETLAND HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND (III) INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES ASSESSMENTS. WHILE THE RESEARCH METHODS ARE GENERAL THEY WILL FIRST BE APPLIED TO A VAST AND SOCIOECONOMICALLY CRITICAL WETLAND THE SUDD IN SOUTH SUDAN WHERE BETTER MODELING IS NEEDED TO CLOSE EXISTING INFORMATION GAPS. FOR THE FIRST PHASE OF RESEARCH A NOVEL METHOD HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO DERIVE MONTHLY INUNDATION MAPS OF THE SUDD WETLAND USING 16 YEARS OF MODIS (MODERATE RESOLUTION IMAGING SPECTROMETER) OPTICAL IMAGERY. STATISTICAL METHODS WERE USED TO DIFFERENTIATE THE VARIOUS LAND CLASSES PRESENT AND THEIR FLOODING REGIMES AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE EXACT TIMING AND DURATION OF FLOODING COULD BE DETERMINED ON A PIXEL-BY-PIXEL BASIS. A NOTABLE ADVANTAGE OF THIS METHOD IS ITS ABILITY TO IDENTIFY FLOODING BENEATH DENSELY VEGETATED AREAS. THE PROCEDURES DEVELOPED IN THIS WORK ARE GENERAL AND MAY BE APPLIED TO WETLANDS WORLDWIDE. ADDITIONALLY THERE ARE POTENTIAL WIDER APPLICATIONS IN THE AREAS OF SNOW COVER MAPPING ESTIMATION OF HYDROLOGIC VARIABLES AND ESTIMATION OF WATER QUALITY VARIABLES. IN THE SECOND PHASE OF RESEARCH REMOTE SENSING DATA SOURCES AND PRODUCTS THAT MEASURE PRECIPITATION EVAPOTRANSPIRATION SOIL MOISTURE AND TEMPERATURE WILL BE EVALUATED FOR THEIR ABILITY TO ESTIMATE THE HYDROLOGIC VARIABLES AFFECTING THE WATER BALANCE OF THE SUDD. BASED ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE SATELLITE-DERIVED VARIABLES THE MOST APPROPRIATE MODEL OF THE SUDD WILL BE DEVELOPED AND CALIBRATED. SUBSEQUENTLY THIS MODEL WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO AN EXISTING DECISION SUPPORT TOOL FOR THE ENTIRE NILE RIVER BASIN. THIS TOOL IS PRESENTLY USED BY WATER POWER ENVIRONMENT AND AGRICULTURE AGENCIES ACROSS THE 11 COUNTRIES SHARING THE NILE RIVER. ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC METRICS SPECIFIC TO THE SUDD WETLAND WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THIS TOOL TO ALLOW STAKEHOLDERS TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES. RESULTS FROM THIS ANALYSIS WILL BETTER INFORM THE WATER-SHARING DIALOG IN THIS SENSITIVE WORLD REGION AND MAY LEAD TO MORE EFFICIENT AND EQUITABLE WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES WITHIN THE ENTIRE NILE RIVER BASIN. THIS PROPOSAL RESONATES STRONGLY WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE NASA EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAM. THE FIRST COMPONENT OF THIS WORK DEMONSTRATES A NOVEL APPLICATION OF MODIS SATELLITE DATA FOR FLOOD MAPPING AND THE GENERAL METHODS HAVE MUCH WIDER APPLICATIONS IN THE FIELD OF HYDROLOGY. THE LATTER COMPONENTS DEMONSTRATE HOW SATELLITE DATA CAN BE USED TO INFORM DECISIONS AND PROVIDE BENEFITS TO SOCIETY WHICH AS AN OVERARCHING GOAL LISTED IN THE NASA SCIENCE PLAN FOR EARTH SCIENCE.