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Land
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Digital Earth and Remote Sensing for Land Management, 2nd Edition
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Digital Earth and Remote Sensing for Land Management, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Innovations – Data and Machine Learning".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2026 | Viewed by 2097

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Massimo Fabris

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering-ICEA, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy
Interests: geomatics; digital aerial photogrammetry; digital surface models; deformations monitoring; 3D surveys; land subsidence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Michele Monego

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering-ICEA, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy
Interests: geomatics monitoring; structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry; terrestrial laser scanning; 3D surveys

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A digital representation of the Earth’s surface is a crucial tool in land management. Remote sensing techniques, in many cases integrated with ground-based data, allow the monitoring of the ground surface with different details, resolutions, and accuracies. These data can be used in the analysis of land use/land cover pattern modifications, urban morphology changes, land surface deformation monitoring, etc.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and/or review papers) to give insights into land management using a digital representation of the Earth’s surface obtained from, but not limited to, remote sensing data. Digital Elevation Models, orthophotomaps, InSAR time-series, GNSS measurements, and various types of information and data (e.g., photogrammetry with optical and/or thermal cameras, LiDAR, multi-beam bathymetry, etc.) acquired from different platforms (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs)), helicopters, and airplanes) can be processed and analyzed by means of GIS tools in the field of land management.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes by using digital Earth data and land remote sensing techniques:

  • Land management;
  • Land deformation monitoring;
  • Land use and/or land cover changes;
  • Urban and urban–rural morphology modifications.

Dr. Massimo Fabris
Dr. Michele Monego
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Land 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.

Keywords

  • digital earth
  • satellite imagery
  • InSAR
  • digital elevation models (DEMs)
  • land monitoring
  • land use
  • land cover
  • urban morphology
  • GIS tools

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 16213 KB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Land Subsidence in the Sant’Eufemia Plain (Calabria Region, Italy) Using InSAR Techniques
by Giuseppe Cianflone, Lisa Beccaro, Alessandro Foti, Rocco Dominici and Cristiano Tolomei
Land 2026, 15(5), 836; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15050836 (registering DOI) - 14 May 2026
Viewed by 200
Abstract
Subsidence is the lowering of the ground surface caused by both natural processes, such as geological and tectonic dynamics, and anthropogenic activities related to land and resource use. Identifying and monitoring this phenomenon is essential for several reasons, including ensuring public safety, supporting [...] Read more.
Subsidence is the lowering of the ground surface caused by both natural processes, such as geological and tectonic dynamics, and anthropogenic activities related to land and resource use. Identifying and monitoring this phenomenon is essential for several reasons, including ensuring public safety, supporting the sustainable management of subsurface resources, and mitigating potential economic impacts. This study investigates ground deformation in an underexplored sector of the Calabria Region (Southern Italy), namely the Sant’Eufemia Plain. To this end, long-term Sentinel-1 datasets were processed using multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry techniques. Significant subsidence, reaching locally up to −17 mm/yr, was detected in the industrial area of San Pietro Lametino. Historical SAR datasets (ERS, ENVISAT) and optical imagery were used to reconstruct the long-term evolution of deformation since the 1990s. Satellite observations were integrated with rainfall records, piezometric data, and geotechnical modelling. A spatially distributed comparison between groundwater level variations and InSAR-derived deformation, supported by local time-series analysis, highlights weak and inconsistent correlations, indicating that groundwater fluctuations alone do not linearly control subsidence. The results suggest that subsidence is primarily associated with long-term consolidation processes affecting highly compressible Holocene deposits, likely enhanced by anthropogenic loading, while groundwater variations may contribute by modifying effective stress conditions within the subsoil. The relative contribution of these processes remains unquantified, highlighting the need for coupled hydro-mechanical investigations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Earth and Remote Sensing for Land Management, 2nd Edition)
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23 pages, 6006 KB  
Article
Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Their Association with Fire in Indigenous Territories of Maranhão, Brazil (1985–2023)
by Helen Giovanna Pereira Fernandes, Taíssa Caroline Silva Rodrigues, Felipe de Luca dos Santos Nogueira, Maycon Henrique Franzoi de Melo, Ricardo Dalagnol, Ana Talita Galvão Freire and Celso Henrique Leite Silva-Junior
Land 2026, 15(1), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010132 - 9 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1029
Abstract
The protection of Indigenous Territories - ITs in the state of Maranhão, located in the Northeast region of Brazil, represents a major challenge at the intersection of environmental conservation and territorial rights. Situated between the Amazon and Cerrado biomes and within the MATOPIBA [...] Read more.
The protection of Indigenous Territories - ITs in the state of Maranhão, located in the Northeast region of Brazil, represents a major challenge at the intersection of environmental conservation and territorial rights. Situated between the Amazon and Cerrado biomes and within the MATOPIBA agricultural frontier, the state faces increasing anthropogenic pressures that accelerate land use changes, intensify fire regimes, and increase greenhouse gas emissions. This study assessed the temporal dynamics of land use and land cover and their relationship with fire in officially recognized Indigenous Territories from 1985 to 2023 using remote sensing, geoprocessing, and spatial analysis in Google Earth Engine. Indigenous Territories lost 185,327 ha of native vegetation, of which 66.9% corresponded to forest and 33.1% to savanna, yet still retained 2028.755 ha in 2023, with 81.2% classified as forest. Fire recurrence reached up to 37 events per pixel, with Araribóia, Kanela, and Porquinhos dos Canela Apãnjekra exhibiting the highest frequencies. During the 2015–2016 El Niño, Araribóia recorded the largest fire episode, with 200,652 ha burned (48.5%). Between 2013 and 2023, total greenhouse gas emissions reached approximately 709 Mt CO2eq, with 85% originating from fires and 15% from deforestation. The findings highlight the need to integrate traditional knowledge, territorial governance, and Integrated Fire Management strategies to strengthen the protection of Indigenous Territories and support the preservation of Indigenous livelihoods in Maranhão. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Earth and Remote Sensing for Land Management, 2nd Edition)
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23 pages, 52765 KB  
Article
GNSS NRTK, UAS-Based SfM Photogrammetry, TLS and HMLS Data for a 3D Survey of Sand Dunes in the Area of Caleri (Po River Delta, Italy)
by Massimo Fabris and Michele Monego
Land 2026, 15(1), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010095 - 3 Jan 2026
Viewed by 560
Abstract
Coastal environments are fragile ecosystems threatened by various factors, both natural and anthropogenic. The preservation and protection of these environments, and in particular, the sand dune systems, which contribute significantly to the defense of the inland from flooding, require continuous monitoring. To this [...] Read more.
Coastal environments are fragile ecosystems threatened by various factors, both natural and anthropogenic. The preservation and protection of these environments, and in particular, the sand dune systems, which contribute significantly to the defense of the inland from flooding, require continuous monitoring. To this end, high-resolution and high-precision multitemporal data acquired with various techniques can be used, such as, among other things, the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) using the network real-time kinematic (NRTK) approach to acquire 3D points, UAS-based structure-from-motion photogrammetry (SfM), terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), and handheld mobile laser scanning (HMLS)-based light detection and ranging (LiDAR). These techniques were used in this work for the 3D survey of a portion of vegetated sand dunes in the Caleri area (Po River Delta, northern Italy) to assess their applicability in complex environments such as coastal vegetated dune systems. Aerial-based and ground-based acquisitions allowed us to produce point clouds, georeferenced using common ground control points (GCPs), measured both with the GNSS NRTK method and the total station technique. The 3D data were compared to each other to evaluate the accuracy and performance of the different techniques. The results provided good agreement between the different point clouds, as the standard deviations of the differences were lower than 9.3 cm. The GNSS NRTK technique, used with the kinematic approach, allowed for the acquisition of the bare-ground surface but at a cost of lower resolution. On the other hand, the HMLS represented the poorest ability in the penetration of vegetation, providing 3D points with the highest elevation value. UAS-based and TLS-based point clouds provided similar average values, with significant differences only in dense vegetation caused by a very different platform of acquisition and point of view. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Earth and Remote Sensing for Land Management, 2nd Edition)
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