A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Garik Gutman Website

NASA Headquarters, Washington DC, USA
Interests: Remote sensing of land use/cover change; land-atmospheric interactions; big-data processing; remote sensing of the environment.
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Dr. Krishna Prasad Vadrevu Website 

1. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
2. Adjunct Professor, Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, USA.
Interests: satellite remote sensing of land use/cover changes; land atmospheric interactions; remote sensing of fires; biogeochemical cycling; agroecosystems.
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Prof. Dr. Chris Justice Website 

Dept. of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, USA
Interests: global change research; land use/cover change; satellite-based agriculture monitoring; satellite-based fire monitoring; terrestrial observing systems/remote sensing
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Land-use/cover change (LU/CC) is one of the most important types of environmental change occurring in many regions of the world. It is widely accepted that LU/CC is in large part driven by demographic changes, e.g., population growth or migration, and economic changes or governmental policies. The most common forms of LU/CC include peri-urban expansion, agricultural land conversion/loss, land abandonment, deforestation, logging, and reforestation. The drivers of LU/CC vary widely in different regions of the world and include factors such as land tenure, local economic development, government policies, changing agricultural practices, inappropriate land management, land speculation, improved transport networks, etc. Variability in the regional weather and climate, and socioeconomic factors also drive LU/CC often resulting in significant impacts on biogeochemical cycles, hydrological cycle, radiation, and surface energy fluxes. Documenting the LU/CC and the associated impacts is gaining regional significance, as this knowledge can be useful for improved land management. Satellite remote sensing due to its large-scale, multi-temporal, multi-spectral, and repetitive coverage capabilities can be effectively used to document LU/CC and associated impacts.

A number of commercial companies such as Planet Labs and Maxar/Digital Globe have been acquiring remote sensing very high resolution (VHR) data useful for LU/CC applications. VHR observations increase our capabilities in extracting land-cover/use fine features. Planet’s constellation consists of over 150 satellites providing spectral observations daily with PLANETSCOPE (RGB and NIR), RAPIDEYE (RGB, red edge and NIR), and SKYSAT (RGB, NIR, and PAN) satellites with 3m, 5m, and 0.8m resolutions respectively. Currently, DigitalGlobe operates four satellites: GeoEye-1, WorldView-1, -2, and -3. Combination of GeoEye-1, which can revisit any point on Earth once every three days, and WorldView constellation makes the frequency of Digital Globe VHR data useful for short-term LU/CC monitoring at 1-m resolution (or higher for panchromatic bands).

This Special Issue invites articles that highlight the integration of VHR data with novel algorithms, e.g., using Machine Learning approaches, which could include deep learning and data mining for LU/CC mapping, monitoring and impact assessment studies, such as the following:

• Forest disturbance mapping and changes
• Agricultural monitoring that would include remote sensing of crop growth stages, crop production, farming practices, and impacts on water/energy balance
• Urbanization and associated impacts (urban heat island effect, air and water pollution, etc.)
• Monitoring fires, biomass burning, and its impacts
• Mapping and monitoring of land management practices, disturbances, and interactions
• New tools and methods for fusing VHR and moderate resolution data

The current call for papers is targeting NASA-funded researchers who have been using VHR data in LU/CC research and applications. The issue is open for non-NASA (and non-US) researchers if the critical mass of accepted papers is not reached. Potential non-NASA authors may contact Guest Editors for further inquiries.
Dr. Garik Gutman
Dr. Krishna Prasad Vadrevu
Prof. Dr. Chris Justice
Guest Editor