Winter conditions of low air temperature cause development of ice phenomena at rivers and reservoirs, creating often problems in their exploitation. There is a need to continuously monitor the spatial extension of ice phenomena and their different forms. Local water authority (RZGW Warszawa) prepares for rivers under their administration a daily reports on ice conditions in winter. Ice reports are prepared from visual inspection of the RZGW personnel visiting selected sections of the river course. This is specially problematic in holidays and weekends when usually data from observations are missing. In this study it is tested application of microwave remote sensing data from Sentinel-1 platform to observe the development and recession of the ice cover at the Dębe reservoir in winter 2017. Satellite Sentinel-1 radar images are distributed by the European Space Agency (ESA) on the open access policy. These are two satellites A and B which every 2 days collect images in SAR active remote sensing technique. Dębe reservoir was created in 1963 by closing by the barrage Narew river below its confluence with Bug river. Maximum water head is 7.1 m, and average 6.8 m. Area of the reservoir is 30.3 km2 average discharge of Bug river at Wyszków gauge is 162 m³ · s^–1, and Narew river at Zambski Kościelne gauge 139 m³ · s^–1. Retention time of water in the reservoir is 3–4 days. Comparison of the average water temperature at gauge Zambski Kościelne and Wyszków from the winter half-year of the period 1963–1981 shows the increase of water temperature by 0.5–1 C after the year 1972 when Ostrołęka power station was put in to operation. This difference in the temperature between Narew and Bug rivers is reflected by the ice conditions at the end of winter season. Sentinel-1 SAR instrument emits electromagnetic wavelength of 6 cm (C band), and are use two polarizations VH and VV. Using SNAP program geometric correction and color composite was created for selected images at the beginning and end of ice cover at Dębe reservoir on Narew river, covering period January 5-March 6, 2017. It has been found that interpretation of the Sentinel-1 images is most problematic if we want to detect boundary between open calm water and new fast ice. The flow of pancake ice on January 5, 2017 had been recorded and the pattern of ice distribution compared to flow lines calculated by the hydrodynamic CCHE2D model. Result of the hydrodynamic modeling shows circulation pattern in the widest part of the reservoir where are also the most favorable conditions for lake type of ice cover formation. End of ice cover is represented by the image of February 26, 2017 which shows the Narew river free from ice due to higher temperature of the water. Relatively simple visual interpretation of the Sentinel-1 VH and VV images can by used in the study of ice phenomena on major rivers and lakes.