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Remote Sensing and Non-Destructive Testing Solutions for Sustainable Development and...
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Remote Sensing and Non-Destructive Testing Solutions for Sustainable Development and Urban Resilience

A special issue of NDT (ISSN 2813-477X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 233

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Livia Lantini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Computing and Engineering, University of West London, London, UK
Interests: ground penetrating radar; remote sensing; signal processing; data processing; numerical simulations; civil engineering; forestry engineering; highway engineering; pavement engineering; construction materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Atiyeh Ardakanian

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Computing and Engineering, University of West London, London W5 5RF, UK
Interests: water-energy-food nexus; urban wastewater reuse; digital twins for natural resource management; integrated urban water management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Enzo Rizzo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
Interests: applied geophysics; near-surface geophysics; environmental and engineering geophysics; urban geophysics; archaeogeophysics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Remote sensing and non-destructive testing technologies have become instrumental in addressing critical environmental and social challenges, particularly in sustainable development and urban resilience. With rapid urbanization and increased environmental pressures, cities worldwide are facing rising demand for sustainable resource management, disaster mitigation, and infrastructure adaptation. These advanced techniques provide unparalleled capabilities for monitoring, assessing, and managing urban systems, supporting the resilience and sustainability goals outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Special Issue will explore the growing need for innovative applications that enhance urban resilience and promote sustainable practices.

This Special Issue will showcase the latest advancements in technologies and methodologies that contribute to sustainable urban planning and resilient infrastructure. By aligning with the journal's focus on environmental monitoring and spatial data science, it will highlight the role of sensing and testing solutions in supporting urban areas as they adapt to climate change, rapid population growth, and resource limitations. Emphasis will be placed on practical solutions and innovative approaches that drive urban resilience and sustainability.

Submissions are encouraged on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Applications of advanced sensing technologies for urban infrastructure resilience and risk management;
  • Monitoring urban heat islands, air quality, and water resources using remote sensing and non-destructive testing methods;
  • Techniques for detecting urban land-use changes and promoting sustainable land management;
  • Solutions for disaster preparedness and response in urban areas;
  • Sensor technologies and data fusion methods for high-resolution urban monitoring.

We welcome research articles, review papers, and case studies that provide insights, address emerging challenges, and propose innovative solutions for sustainable urban development and resilience through remote sensing and non-destructive testing.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Remote Sensing.

Dr. Livia Lantini
Dr. Atiyeh Ardakanian
Dr. Enzo Rizzo
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. NDT is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1000 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
  • non-destructive testing
  • urban resilience
  • sustainable development
  • environmental monitoring
  • disaster preparedness
  • urban infrastructure
  • climate adaptation
  • resource management
  • smart cities

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

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

40 pages, 3280 KiB  
Review
Precision Weed Control Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Robots: Assessing Feasibility, Bottlenecks, and Recommendations for Scaling
by Shanmugam Vijayakumar, Palanisamy Shanmugapriya, Pasoubady Saravanane, Thanakkan Ramesh, Varunseelan Murugaiyan and Selvaraj Ilakkiya
NDT 2025, 3(2), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/ndt3020010 - 16 May 2025
Viewed by 79
Abstract
Weeds cause significant yield and economic losses by competing with crops and increasing production costs. Compounding these challenges are labor shortages, herbicide resistance, and environmental pollution, making weed management increasingly difficult. In response, precision weed control (PWC) technologies, such as robots and unmanned [...] Read more.
Weeds cause significant yield and economic losses by competing with crops and increasing production costs. Compounding these challenges are labor shortages, herbicide resistance, and environmental pollution, making weed management increasingly difficult. In response, precision weed control (PWC) technologies, such as robots and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have emerged as innovative solutions. These tools offer farmers high precision (±1 cm spatial accuracy), enabling efficient and sustainable weed management. Herbicide spraying robots, mechanical weeding robots, and laser-based weeders are deployed on large-scale farms in developed countries. Similarly, UAVs are gaining popularity in many countries, particularly in Asia, for weed monitoring and herbicide application. Despite advancements in robotic and UAV weed control, their large-scale adoption remains limited. The reasons for this slow uptake and the barriers to widespread implementation are not fully understood. To address this knowledge gap, our review analyzes 155 articles and provides a comprehensive understanding of PWC challenges and needed interventions for scaling. This review revealed that AI-driven weed mapping in robots and UAVs struggles with data (quality, diversity, bias) and technical (computation, deployment, cost) barriers. Improved data (collection, processing, synthesis, bias mitigation) and efficient, affordable technology (edge/hybrid computing, lightweight algorithms, centralized computing resources, energy-efficient hardware) are required to improve AI-driven weed mapping adoption. Specifically, robotic weed control adoption is hindered by challenges in weed recognition, navigation complexity, limited battery life, data management (connectivity), fragmented farms, high costs, and limited digital literacy. Scaling requires advancements in weed detection and energy efficiency, development of affordable robots with shared service models, enhanced farmer training, improved rural connectivity, and precise engineering solutions. Similarly, UAV adoption in agriculture faces hurdles such as regulations (permits), limited payload and battery life, weather dependency, spray drift, sensor accuracy, lack of skilled operators, high initial and operational costs, and absence of standardized protocol. Scaling requires financing (subsidies, loans), favorable regulations (streamlined permits, online training), infrastructure development (service providers, hiring centers), technological innovation (interchangeable sensors, multipurpose UAVs), and capacity building (farmer training programs, awareness initiatives). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing and Non-Destructive Testing Solutions for Sustainable Development and Urban Resilience)
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