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Land
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Land and Drought: An Environmental Assessment Through Remote Sensing
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Land and Drought: An Environmental Assessment Through Remote Sensing

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Systems and Global Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 1039

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Keyvan Soltani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soils and Agri-Food Engineering, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Interests: drought management; climate change; water resources management; environmental impact assessment; rainfall runoff modeling; remote sensing; google earth engine; urban water management; groundwater; extreme events
Prof. Dr. Silvio José Gumiere

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil and Agri-Food Engineering, Universite Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Interests: climate change; drought management; soil and water conservation; irrigation; hydrological modeling; surface hydrology; rainfall runoff modeling; hydraulics; numerical modeling; hydrology; hydrologic and water resource management; environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Isa Ebtehaj

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soils and Agri-Food Engineering, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Interests: drought management; climate change; environmental impact assessment; remote sensing; urban water management; groundwater
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drought is a critical global issue, intensified by climate change, with widespread impacts on land systems, ecosystems, and livelihoods. Its effects on water resources, soil health, agriculture, and biodiversity demand advanced monitoring and management strategies. Remote sensing offers transformative solutions for large-scale drought assessment via analyzing satellite data to monitor vegetation health, soil moisture, and hydrological patterns with precision.

This Special Issue, “Land and Drought: An Environmental Assessment through Remote Sensing”, seeks innovative research exploring drought dynamics, advanced methodologies, and integrated management approaches. Contributions should aim to enhance our knowledge, drought resilience, and sustainable land management in addressing this escalating environmental challenge.

This Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of drought impacts on land systems using remote sensing and geospatial technologies. Aligned with Land’s focus on sustainability and human–environment interactions, it emphasizes the role of drought in land degradation and ecosystem stress. Contributions should explore innovative methods, practical solutions, and interdisciplinary approaches to enhance drought resilience and sustainable land management amid climatic variability.

This Special Issue welcomes contributions exploring drought’s impacts on land systems using innovative remote sensing and geospatial technologies, including the following themes:

  • Remote Sensing for Drought Monitoring: New indices, tools, and technologies.
  • Drought Impacts on Land Systems: Vegetation, soil, and land use changes.
  • Climate-Drought Interactions: Feedback mechanisms and climate variability.
  • Integrated Management: Combining models, remote sensing, and ground data.
  • Socioeconomic Implications: The effects of drought on agriculture and communities.
  • Innovative Tools: AI, machine learning, and data fusion.

Article types include original research, reviews, short communications, technical notes, and perspectives addressing drought resilience and sustainable land management.

Dr. Keyvan Soltani
Prof. Dr. Silvio José Gumiere
Dr. Isa Ebtehaj
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. 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

  • remote sensing and drought
  • drought impacts on land
  • drought monitoring with remote sensing
  • satellite-based drought indices
  • remote sensing applications in drought
  • climate variability and land systems
  • geospatial technologies for drought assessment
  • resilience of land to drought
  • drought early warning systems
  • sustainable land management under drought
  • remote sensing in environmental monitoring

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 6962 KiB  
Article
Mapping Drought Incidents in the Mediterranean Region with Remote Sensing: A Step Toward Climate Adaptation
by Aikaterini Stamou, Aikaterini Bakousi, Anna Dosiou, Zoi-Eirini Tsifodimou, Eleni Karachaliou, Ioannis Tavantzis and Efstratios Stylianidis
Land 2025, 14(8), 1564; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14081564 - 30 Jul 2025
Viewed by 116
Abstract
The Mediterranean region, identified by scientists as a ‘climate hot spot’, is experiencing warmer and drier conditions, along with an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. One such extreme phenomena is droughts. The recent wildfires in this region are [...] Read more.
The Mediterranean region, identified by scientists as a ‘climate hot spot’, is experiencing warmer and drier conditions, along with an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. One such extreme phenomena is droughts. The recent wildfires in this region are a concerning consequence of this phenomenon, causing severe environmental damage and transforming natural landscapes. However, droughts involve a two-way interaction: On the one hand, climate change and various human activities, such as urbanization and deforestation, influence the development and severity of droughts. On the other hand, droughts have a significant impact on various sectors, including ecology, agriculture, and the local economy. This study investigates drought dynamics in four Mediterranean countries, Greece, France, Italy, and Spain, each of which has experienced severe wildfire events in recent years. Using satellite-based Earth observation data, we monitored drought conditions across these regions over a five-year period that includes the dates of major wildfires. To support this analysis, we derived and assessed key indices: the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), and Normalized Difference Drought Index (NDDI). High-resolution satellite imagery processed within the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform enabled the spatial and temporal analysis of these indicators. Our findings reveal that, in all four study areas, peak drought conditions, as reflected in elevated NDDI values, were observed in the months leading up to wildfire outbreaks. This pattern underscores the potential of satellite-derived indices for identifying regional drought patterns and providing early signals of heightened fire risk. The application of GEE offered significant advantages, as it allows efficient handling of long-term and large-scale datasets and facilitates comprehensive spatial analysis. Our methodological framework contributes to a deeper understanding of regional drought variability and its links to extreme events; thus, it could be a valuable tool for supporting the development of adaptive management strategies. Ultimately, such approaches are vital for enhancing resilience, guiding water resource planning, and implementing early warning systems in fire-prone Mediterranean landscapes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land and Drought: An Environmental Assessment Through Remote Sensing)
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17 pages, 2743 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Desertification Sensitivity During Urbanization: A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Core Region
by Deshen Xu, Haoyu Wu, Qiusheng Yao, Fei Song and Fangli Su
Land 2025, 14(4), 858; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14040858 - 14 Apr 2025
Viewed by 426
Abstract
Desertification sensitivity in semi-arid urbanizing regions remains a critical challenge for sustainable land management. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal dynamics (2018–2022) of desertification sensitivity in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei core region using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), soil texture, the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), [...] Read more.
Desertification sensitivity in semi-arid urbanizing regions remains a critical challenge for sustainable land management. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal dynamics (2018–2022) of desertification sensitivity in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei core region using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), soil texture, the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and nighttime light data. Using a GIS-based model, we found a decline in overall desertification sensitivity, with vegetation degradation (post-2020) emerging as a key factor. Key recommendations include optimizing urban spatial patterns via ecological red lines, prioritizing vegetation restoration in high-sensitivity zones, and establishing dynamic remote sensing-based monitoring systems. These strategies aim to coordinate urban growth with ecological resilience, offering actionable pathways for semi-arid regions facing similar pressures. Future work should integrate socioeconomic drivers to refine adaptive governance frameworks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land and Drought: An Environmental Assessment Through Remote Sensing)
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