As a relative new technology,fingerprinting technology has been receiving increasing attention in sediment source study.Especially multi-parameter fingerprinting technique,which used for quantitative research of sediment source,has achieved a series of successes in models and applications.This paper outlined traditional technique about investigating suspended sediment source,summarized the application principles and advances of single-parameter and multi-parameter fingerprinting techniques in investigating suspended sediment source,and analyzed the application projects and development tendency of multi-parameter fingerprinting technique.