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Complexity Research in Earth Sciences and Geography: Recent Progresses

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Earth Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 821

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Interests: nonlinear dynamics; time series analysis; multiscale modeling; multi-scale analysis of geophysical and geographic data; medical informatics; quantitative research on social, economic and financial complexity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Interests: hydrological simulation and analysis; land-atmosphere interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Interests: GIS; spatial statistics; spatial optimization; GIS software engineering; HPC

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With global warming accelerating, extreme weather events and natural disasters becoming more frequent, natural resources diminishing, and international conflicts multiplying, humankind has been facing increasingly bigger challenges as time goes on. While many complex phenomena in Earth sciences and geography have played significant roles in the growth of complexity science, it is time to employ select treasured concepts and advanced methodologies from complexity science to systematically study a wide spectrum of problems in Earth sciences and geography. This collection of works is the second of an earlier Special Issue in Applied Science, titled "Advancing Complexity Research in Earth Sciences and Geography", focusing on recent progress in the field. 

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The identification of nonlinear relations in Earth and geographical sciences;
  • The spatial–temporal evolution of nonlinear phenomena in Earth and geographical sciences; 
  • Emergent behavior in Earth and geographical sciences;
  • Complexity science for megacities and urban agglomerations;
  • Anomaly detection and precursor recognition in spatial data;
  • Complexity in natural hazards;
  • Nonlinear dynamics and chaos in Earth systems;
  • Complex feedback mechanisms of Earth system science;
  • Climate change and human impacts on Earth systems;
  • Complex parameterization processes in Earth system models;
  • The risk assessment and management of natural hazards;
  • Coupled studies of environmental change and socioeconomic systems;
  • Complex adaptive systems in geography;
  • Climate change feedback loops and tipping points;
  • Human–environment interactions and sustainability;
  • AI-based new techniques in complexity science.

Prof. Dr. Jianbo Gao
Dr. Yuna Mao
Dr. Wangshu Mu
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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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

  • complexity science
  • earth system
  • urban planning
  • natural hazards
  • environmental change
  • socioeconomic systems
  • climate change

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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25 pages, 2584 KiB  
Article
Network Structure and Synergy Characteristics in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
by Shaobo Wang, Yafeng Qin, Xiaobo Lin, Zhen Wang and Yingjun Luo
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(14), 7705; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15147705 - 9 Jul 2025
Viewed by 287
Abstract
In regions where transportation and the economy are closely integrated, optimizing network structure and enhancing synergy are vital for regional integration. This paper constructs a dual-factor linkage network using enterprise investment and liner shipping data to analyze linkage strength and synergy effects among [...] Read more.
In regions where transportation and the economy are closely integrated, optimizing network structure and enhancing synergy are vital for regional integration. This paper constructs a dual-factor linkage network using enterprise investment and liner shipping data to analyze linkage strength and synergy effects among cities in the Greater Bay Area. The findings reveal that (1) a core-periphery structure exists, with core cities dominating resource flows while secondary cities remain weak. The logistics network is led by Hong Kong and Shenzhen, while the capital flow network showcases the dominance of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. (2) From 2016 to 2021, interactions between transportation and the economy deepened, showing strong correlations in logistics and capital flows among core cities and between core and edge cities, but weaker correlations with sub-core and edge cities. Core cities stabilize regional transportation and economy, fostering agglomeration, while sub-core cities are more reliant on them, indicating a need for better resource balance. (3) The spatio-temporal coupling analysis reveals significant heterogeneity in flows among cities, with many exhibiting antagonistic couplings outside core areas. This study enhances understanding of synergy mechanisms in transportation and economic networks, offering insights for optimizing layouts and improving capital flow efficiency. Full article
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