Remote Sensing and GIS Applications in Urban Climate Research

Dear Colleagues,

Urbanization and urban expansion feature conversions from natural and agricultural land to built-up environment that has taken place ubiquitously worldwide at an increasing rate. Associated with the use of construction and building materials, urbanization processes modify the surface energy balance, hydrological cycle, and natural ecosystems, which have led to significant impacts on the local and regional climate. These changes have constituted serious climate challenges for urban areas that require both new analytic approaches and new sources of data and information.

Emerging geospatial technologies offer great opportunities to acquire continuous observations of the Earth’s surface, analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of changes in the landscape and climate, and make predictions for future trends. Remote sensing can also provide fundamental observations for urban areas in developing countries where other data sources are not readily available. Additionally, advances in sensors, computing technology, big data, and geospatial analytics have significantly increased the range of research questions that can be answered with traditional methods in urban climatology.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present original research articles and review work related to remote sensing and GIS applications in urban climate research. In this Special Issue, we seek original work focused on using innovative remote sensing and GIS methods to address urban climate issues. Topics include but are not limited to:

1. Spatiotemporal analysis of urban climate;
2. Long-term trend of urban climate change;
3. Urbanization effects on local, regional, and global climate change;
4. Urban landscape and climate;
5. Urban ecosystems and climate;
6. The urban heat island effect;
7. Urban energy use; and
8. Urban water resources and water use.

We are especially interested in research using remote sensing big data computing and machine learning approaches to address urban climate issues.

Dr. Chuyuan Wang
Dr. Chao Fan
Guest Editors

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