Initially, the role of snow and ice in the global water balance is assessed and methods of snow measurements are explained. Remote sensing is dealt with with regard to periodical snow cover mapping. Last advances and refinements refer to spatial resolution, cloud interference and separate monitoring of snow and glacier ice. Following a review of snow melt and runoff modelling, the Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) demonstrates the merits of remote sensing in snow hydrology by using the satellite data as a direct input variable.