Remote Sensing of Soil Condition Assessment and Degradation Drivers Monitoring
A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 5452
Special Issue Editors
Interests: earth observation and remote sensing; quantitative estimation of soil properties; digital soil mapping; ecohydrology; land degradation;
Interests: urban remote sensing; geographic information science; system dynamics; complex system simulation; regional development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: digital soil mapping; soil carbon; soil properties; threats to soil; spatial analysis; soil fertility; contamination; soil monitoring; remote sensing
Interests: remote sensing satellite and UAV (multispectral and hyperspectral); soil salinity; digital soil mapping; land degradation; ecological hydrology; google earth engine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soil is an important foundation of life on Earth and is essential for the sustainable development of human society. Changes in soil conditions affect food production, land–atmosphere circulation, hydrological processes, ecosystem services, and human health. With the increasing impact of changing environments, soil conditions have undergone tremendous changes, resulting in a decline in soil productivity and regulatory capacity. Currently, at least half the world’s soils are degraded. This trend will lead to the loss of soil physical, chemical and biological characteristics, threatening the well-being of 3.2 billion people. Therefore, it is urgent to monitor and assess the soil condition and soil degradation. Remote sensing technology has become an important technology for observing various properties and states of soil. Remote sensing observation provides an opportunity for long-term dynamic monitoring and helps deepen our understanding of soil conditions, processes, changes and driving mechanisms.
This Special Issue encourages research on evaluating various processes, changes, driving mechanisms and future predictions related to soil properties, soil conditions and soil degradation through remote sensing (various platforms and electromagnetic spectrum). The integration of remote sensing knowledge with soil knowledge provides innovative knowledge for solving human–land relationship issues. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Proximal/UAV/remote sensing monitor and assess soils (optical, microwave, thermal infrared, LIDAR, etc.);
- Digital soil mapping;
- Monitoring and assessment of soil variation;
- Drivers of soil condition change and degradation;
- Multi-source data fusion/synergy for soil monitoring;
- Simulation of soil properties and degradation;
- Future prediction of soil changes;
- Coupling of human–land relationships;
- Soils and sustainable development;
- Soils and hydrological processes;
- Soils and human activities;
- Impact of changing soil conditions and degradation;
- Soil erosion, pollution and salinization.
Prof. Dr. Jianli Ding
Prof. Dr. Danlin Yu
Dr. Dominique Arrouays
Dr. Xiangyu Ge
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- digital soil mapping
- soil degradation
- soil organic carbon
- soil nutrients
- soil variability
- LULC
- climate change
- machine learning
- remote sensing big data
- scenario simulation
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Spatio-temporal Pattern of Cultivated Land in the Mu Us Sandy Land from 1964 to 2020
Authors: Bingqiang Fei; Jie Yin; Xiaomin Xiu; Chunyuan Dong; Huirong Ma; Long Cheng; Yingjun Pang; Xiaohong Jia; Bo Wu
Affiliation: Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China
Abstract: Due to the inherent fragility of ecological environments in arid and semi-arid regions, the expansion of cultivated land has attracted much attention. Within transition zone between agriculture and animal husbandry in northern China, the spatio-temporal pattern of cultivated land has undergone dramatic transformations since the 1960s, driven by land use policies and socio-economic factors. Understanding the characteristics of the cultivated land changes is crucial for strengthening systematic regional governance and achieving sustainable economic and social development. This study used multi-source remote sensing images from 1964 to 2020 to establish a comprehensive database of cultivated land distribution in the Mu Us Sandy Land and explored the spatio-temporal pattern and landscape dynamics of cultivated land. The findings reveal a sustained increase in the area of cultivated land over the past 56 years, with a particularly significant rise observed between 2007 and 2020, whose growth rate is 115 km²/a, nearly six times greater than that observed between 1986 to 2007 (21 km²/a). In terms of spatial distribution, the cultivated land has concentrated more in the eastern and southern regions, compared to the west and north, respectively. Meanwhile, the evolution of the cultivated land landscape pattern has been characterized by an overall increase in patch numbers since 1964, although the growth rate has slowed down since 1986. However, patch shapes have become more regular. Furthermore, the cultivated land distribution has gradually concentrated since 1964, with a weakening directional preference and a southwestward shift in the center of gravity. The east and south in this region has boasted favorable conditions for agricultural cultivation because of factors such as more precipitation, lower altitude, relatively flat terrain, denser river networks, and more abundant water resources. In recent years, rapid expansion of cultivated land in Mu Us Sandy Land is primarily driven by market demand, while a supportive policy environment, land use planning, and advancements in agricultural technology have also served as contributing factors.