River ice is a common phenomenon of water freezing in the cold season， which will have a series of important effects on hydrology， transportation， and the environment. River ice monitoring can not only provide a reference for the study of the water cycle and water resources management in cold regions， but also provide a basis for water conservancy project construction and shipping safety. Remote sensing technology can realize the rapid observation of a large range of river ice with low cost and high temporal and spatial resolution， which is considered as one of the effective methods to monitor river ice. In this paper， the research and application progress of remote sensing monitoring of river ice were described objectively in the order of different types of sensors. Multi-spectral remote sensing data have been widely used because of their high spatial and temporal resolution. They are mainly used to monitor the distribution range and area of river ice. Microwave remote sensing data are often used to monitor the type and thickness of river ice due to their unique penetrating ability. Secondly， the future development trend of river ice remote sensing monitoring technology as well as the opportunities and challenges of river ice remote sensing were discussed. At present， some new technologies such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles （UAV） and Ground-Penetrating Radar （GPR） have also been applied to the field of remote sensing monitoring of river ice. In the future， multi-sensor joint monitoring should be strengthened to improve the monitoring effect. River ice remote sensing research needs to be combined with hydrological and climate models to realize the mutual-cooperation and complementary advantages of remote sensing observations and the models， and promote more in-depth research on river ice monitoring.