Forest Cover and Land Use Change Analysis Using Remote Sensing and GIS Technology

Dear Colleagues,

Forests play a vital role in global wellbeing. However, rapid urbanization, climate change, and deforestation are significantly transforming global forest cover and land use patterns. Accurate data on forest cover and characteristics are also crucial for national and international forest inventories, monitoring programs, and reporting activities, particularly in the context of international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and restoration initiatives. In this context, remote sensing technologies offer an efficient source of information, enabling the creation of accurate mapping products at various scales (temporal and spatial). The regular monitoring of land use and forest areas through remote sensing is thus essential for understanding the direct and indirect impacts of human activities on forest ecosystems. This information supports sustainable forest and land use planning, including in urban and peri-urban areas, and aids in developing and monitoring the progress of conservation strategies. This Special Issue invites contributions exploring various aspects of forest cover and land use change analysis and mapping through remote-sensing technologies. We welcome submissions that address new insights, current challenges, recent advancements, practical applications, and future outlooks in this field. Contributions utilizing multi- and hyperspectral remote-sensing, terrestrial, airborne, spaceborne laser scanning, and new technologies are most welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Temporal trend analysis;
• Image classification;
• Application of new sensors and technologies;
• Environmental effects;
• Multisource analysis;
• Harmonization efforts.

Dr. Costanza Borghi
Dr. Giovanni D'Amico
Prof. Dr. Gherardo Chirici
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. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.