Announcements

Glaciers are among the most important components of the Earth’s cryosphere, serving as natural reservoirs of freshwater, regulators of sea levels, and indicators of climate variability. Their role in sustaining ecosystems and human societies is unparalleled, yet they are increasingly threatened by rising global temperatures.

The scientific evidence underscores the alarming rate of glacier retreat, with profound implications for water security, sea-level rise, and the frequency of climate-related hazards such as floods and landslides. The loss of these ice masses not only disrupts hydrological cycles but also poses significant challenges to communities and economies worldwide.

Date: 19 March 2025 at 9 a.m. CET | 3 a.m. EDT | 4 p.m. CST
Webinar ID: 851 1794 7801
Website: https://sciforum.net/event/WDFG2025

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Program:

Webinar Speakers:

• Dr. Abror Gafurov, GFZ German Research Centre for Geoscience, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany;
• Dr. Danilo Godone, Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, Torino, Italy.

In honor of 2025 World Meteorological Day observed on 24 March, MDPI is hosting a special webinar bringing together researchers and experts to discuss the importance of meteorology in ensuring societal safety and wellbeing. This webinar will provide a platform for meaningful discussions and knowledge exchange on the importance of closing the early warning gap in the face of climate change. 2025

Date: 24 March 2025
Time: 5:00 p.m. CET | 12:00 p.m. EDT 
Webinar ID: 825 1947 6033
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Webinar announcement: https://sciforum.net/event/MWMDW3

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After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic or institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

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Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

• Prof. Dr. Bruce McCarl, Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, USA;
• Dr. A. K. M. Azad Hossain, Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, USA;
• Prof. Dr. Akira Tokuhiro, Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Ontario Tech University, North Oshawa, Canada.

Relevant Special Issues:
“Integrating Remote Sensing, Machine Learning, and Process-Based Modelling for Monitoring Environmental and Agricultural Landscapes Under Climate Change”
Guest Editors: Dr. Michael Gbenga Ogungbuyi and Dr. Dimitrios D. Alexakis
Deadline for manuscript submission: 28 June 2025

“The Application of Weather and Climate Research in the Energy Sector”
Guest Editors: Dr. Alberto Troccoli, Dr. Laurent Dubus and Prof. Dr. Sue Ellen Haupt
Deadline for manuscript submission: 10 June 2025

“Tropical Cyclones and Their Impacts (2nd Edition)”
Guest Editor: Prof. Dr. Corene Matyas
Deadline for manuscript submission: 30 September 2025

“Climate Change Impacts on Hydrologic Variables across Timescales and Spatial Scale”
Guest Editors: Dr. Yang Zhou and Dr. Yang Zhou
Deadline for manuscript submission: 31 May 2025

“Hydrological Insights for Sustainable Ecosystem Management Under Climate Change”
Guest Editors: Dr. Gowhar Meraj, Dr. Shruti Kanga and Dr. Pankaj Kumar
Deadline for manuscript submission: 30 June 2025

In honor of the  2025 International Day of Forests, MDPI is hosting a special webinar to bring together researchers and experts to discuss the integral part that forests play in food security.

This webinar will provide a platform for meaningful discussions and exchanges of knowledge regarding the importance of forests in agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and climate regulation.

Date: 21 March 2025
Time: 3:00 p.m. CET | 10:00 a.m. EDT
Webinar ID: 899 3503 6790
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Webinar announcement: https://sciforum.net/event/IDFW25

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After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic or institutional email addresses will be prioritized. 
 
Unable to attend? Feel free to still register; we will inform you when the recording is available.

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speaker:

• Dr. Md. Habibur Rahman, Division of Forest and Biomaterials Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Japan;
• Mr. Brian Huberty, President, Minnesota Forestry Association Remote Sensing Advisor, SharedGeo.org.

Relevant Special Issues:
“Remote Sensing of Post-fire Environmental Damage and Forest Recovery: New Challenges and Approaches”
Guest Editors:  Dr. Alfonso Fernández-Manso and Dr. Carmen Quintano
Deadline for manuscript submission: 30 May 2025

“Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Vegetation Management: Forestry, Agriculture and Protected Areas”
Guest Editor:  Prof. Dr. Levente Hufnagel
Deadline for manuscript submission: 30 June 2025

MDPI is pleased to announce our participation in the 2025 AAG Annual Meeting (AAG 2025), held from 24 to 28 March 2025 in Detroit, MI, USA.

AAG 2025 will revolve around the theme of “Making Spaces of Possibility”. It will bring together geographers of many perspectives and specialties to learn from Detroit, envisioning solutions for the region it is part of and for places around the world.

To make spaces of possibility is to leverage geographic insight, knowledge, and tools to counter the historical legacies of racial exclusion and (settler) colonialism; to address current threats to democracy and the environment; and to work toward climate justice.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the event:

• Remote Sensing;
• Sustainability;
• Earth;
• Geographies;
• Climate;
• Hydrology;
• Land;
• Water;
• Fire;
• Atmosphere;
• World;
• Drones;
• Geomatics;
• Quaternary.

If you are attending AAG 2025, we invite you to visit us at booth #111. Our representatives, Mr. Elvis Wang and Ms. Sofia Zelko, will be available to discuss publishing opportunities, the benefits of open access, and our commitment to advancing geosciences research.

For more information about the conference, please visit its official website: https://www.aag.org/events/aag2025/.

MDPI is pleased to share a significant milestone in its mission to advance scholarly research and promote the dissemination of knowledge—300+ MDPI journals are now indexed in Web of Science (WoS). This milestone highlights the global recognition, interdisciplinary impact and enhanced visibility of our journals. It also reflects our adherence to rigorous editorial standards, scientific integrity, and our mission to foster open scientific exchange in all forms, across all disciplines. 

To explore the full list of our journals indexed in WoS, please visit https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals/wos. Beyond expanding the coverage of our publications in the leading academic databases, we are dedicated to ensuring that our journals are included in as many scope-specific databases as possible. This increases the visibility of our authors’ work and extends the reach of their significant data. 

This milestone would not have been possible without the efforts and expertise of our academic editors, reviewers and authors. Their commitment and collaboration have been instrumental in creating an inclusive, accessible, and impactful publishing platform. We also extend our gratitude to the global research community for their trust as we continue to break new ground in academic publishing. This milestone is not just a celebration of MDPI’s progress but also recognition of the collective strides made by researchers worldwide. 

As we celebrate this remarkable accomplishment, MDPI remains steadfast in its commitment to open access publishing and ensuring that high-quality research reaches and inspires a global audience.

This year, MDPI celebrates Environmental and Earth Sciences Week under the theme “Science for a Thriving Planet!”. As we honor this week, we also align with the United Nations’ call to action by recognizing key global observances: 21 March as the International Day of Forests and World Day for Glaciers, 22 March as World Water Day, and 23 March as World Meteorological Day. These observances highlight the interconnectedness of forests, water, weather, and climate in shaping a sustainable future.

Hereby, we are pleased to officially launch the campaign “MDPI 2024 Most Popular Cover in Environmental and Earth Sciences”, which aims to reinforce the critical role science plays in understanding, protecting, and sustaining our world.

What’s the cover?
For this campaign, MDPI highlights a paper in the form of an issue cover for each issue. We selected 15 covers in 2024 in the field of forests, water and meteorology. Many cover stories report important research results or innovative methods with impressive images.

What’s standard when selecting the popular cover?
The criteria that will be considered for selection are as follows:

• The importance or innovation of research in the fields of forests, water, glaciers, or meteorology;
• Quality of the cover image.

How many winners will there be?

• There will be three covers granted the “MDPI 2024 Most Popular Cover”.

What’s the prize for each winner?

• A CHF 300 Article-Processing Charge (APC) voucher (corresponding author);
• An electronic certificate.

How to pick your favorite cover?
To cast your vote, please visit the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z8B3BDQ.

The voting will be open from 19 February to 12 March 2025. The winners will be announced on the MDPI website by 21 March.

MDPI, a pioneer in scholarly open access publishing, and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), Singapore, proudly announce the successful conclusion of the first edition the MDPI Early Career Researcher Awards. The awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to medical and biomedical research, were presented to six exceptional researchers during an awards ceremony held at LKCMedicine HQ Building on 28 November 2024.

Honoring Excellence in Research

The awards recognize exceptional postdoctoral researchers and Ph.D. students who have demonstrated outstanding originality, innovation, and impact in their respective fields. We are honored to announce the winners of the 2024 edition:

Early Career Researcher (Postdoc) Award:

• Dr. Theresia Handayani Mina, “Adiposity and Metabolic Health in Asian Populations: An Epidemiological Study Using Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry in Singapore”;
• Dr. Erfan Rezvani Ghomi, “Wound Healing Improvement by Novel Aligned Antimicrobial Nanofibrous 3D Scaffolds”;
• Dr. Yadollah Ranjbar Slamloo, “Functional Alterations of The Prefrontal Circuit Underlying Cognitive Aging in Mice”.

Early Career Researcher (Ph.D.) Award:

• Pritisha Rozario, “Mechanistic Basis for Potassium Efflux-Driven Activation of the Human NLRP1 Inflammasome”;

• Michelle Law Cheok Yien, “Chikungunya Virus Nonstructural Protein 1 is a Versatile RNA Capping and Decapping Enzyme”;
• Yin Ruoyu, “The Use of Digital Mental Health and Wellbeing Tools in Older Adults: A Mixed Method Study”.

Our collaboration highlights a shared commitment to recognizing exceptional talent and research within the academic community, addressing today’s healthcare challenges, and inspiring continued innovation.

Looking Ahead to 2025

Building on the success of the first edition, MDPI and LKCMedicine are excited to announce that the 2025 MDPI Early Researcher Awards will continue to celebrate excellence and innovation in medical research. The next edition promises to expand its scope, introducing new categories and providing even greater recognition for impactful research.

Further details on the 2025 awards, including nomination criteria and timelines, will be shared in the coming months. We remain committed to fostering a culture of research excellence and collaboration within the global scientific community.

Permafrost plays a crucial role in the Earth’s climate system, storing vast amounts of carbon and influencing ecosystems, infrastructure, and communities in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. However, as the climate warms, permafrost has begun to thaw at an accelerated rate, creating significant environmental and socioeconomic challenges.

In this webinar, we will explore the critical role of Earth Observation (EO) technologies in monitoring and understanding permafrost changes. From satellite imagery to remote sensing techniques, EO provides valuable, real-time data that help researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders track permafrost dynamics, assess risks, and develop strategies for mitigation and adaptation. Join us to learn how cutting-edge EO innovations are advancing the science of permafrost monitoring and shaping the future of Arctic sustainability. To this end, key research findings will be presented from EO-PERSIST, an EU-funded project that aims to develop a cloud-based platform for mapping the socioeconomic impacts of climate change in the Arctic regions.

Date: 4 March 2025
Time: 4:00 p.m. CET | 10:00 a.m. EST | 11:00 p.m. CST Asia 
Webinar ID: 826 0289 7331
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Webinar announcement: https://sciforum.net/event/topics-32

Register now for free!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic or institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Feel free to still register; we will inform you when the recording is available.

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. George P. Petropoulos, Department of Geography, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece;
• Dr. Ionuț Șandric, Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, Romania;
• Dr. Nikolina Myofa, Department of Geography, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece;
• Mr. Spyridon E. Detsikas, Department of Geography, Harokopio University of Athens, Greece;
• Mr. Kleanthis Karamvasis, National Technical University of Athens, Remote Sensing Laboratory, Greece;
• Mr. Juval Cohen, Research Scientist, Earth Observation Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland.

Relevant Special Issues and Papers:
“Environmental Monitoring Based on Remote Sensing, Earth Observation and Geoinformation”
Guest Editors: Dr. George P. Petropoulos, Prof. Dr. Daniela Silva-Fuzzo, Prof. Dr. Nikos Koutsias and Prof. Dr. Yansong Bao
Deadline for manuscript submission: 29 July 2025

“Quantifying Soil Erosion Processes Using Satellite Data: Progress and Perspectives”
Guest Editor: Prof. Dr. Arjun Heimsath
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 April 2025

“Open-Source Geoinformation Software Tools in Environmental Modelling”
Guest Editors: Dr. George P. Petropoulos, Dr. Prashant Srivastava and Prof. Dr. Daniela Silva-Fuzzo
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025

“Aerial and Drone LiDAR Data for Geomorphological Mapping, Landform Extraction and Landscape Evolution”
Edited by Dr. Dario Gioia, Dr. Nicodemo Abate, Dr. Giuseppe Corrado, Dr. Antonio Minervino Amodio and Prof. Marcello Schiattarella

“Segment Anything Model Can Not Segment Anything: Assessing AI Foundation Model’s Generalizability in Permafrost Mapping”
by Wenwen Li, Chia-Yu Hsu, Sizhe Wang, Yezhou Yang, Hyunho Lee, Anna Liljedahl, Chandi Witharana, Yili Yang, Brendan M. Rogers, Samantha T. Arundel et al.
Remote Sens. 2024, 16(5), 797; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16050797

“New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires”
by Radhakrishna Bangalore Lakshmiprasad, Stephan Peth, Susanne K. Woche, and Thomas Graf
Land 2024, 13(12), 1990; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13121990

“Assessment of Ecosystem Service Value in Response to LULC Changes Using Geospatial Techniques: A Case Study in the Merbil Wetland of the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, India”
by Durlov Lahon, Dhrubajyoti Sahariah, Jatan Debnath, Nityaranjan Nath, Gowhar Meraj, Pankaj Kumar, Shizuka Hashimoto and Majid Farooq
ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2023, 12(4), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi12040165

We are pleased to introduce the Section “Remote Sensing Communications” of the journal Remote Sensing (ISSN: 2072-4292). Prof. Dr. Deepak R. Mishra is serving as the Section Editor-in-Chief.

Message from the Section Editor-in-Chief:
The “Remote Sensing Communications” Section is dedicated to the swift and impactful sharing of cutting-edge research in remote sensing. We encourage short paper submissions covering a wide range of topics that fit within our Section's broad scope. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• New Methods and Algorithms: Articles presenting groundbreaking techniques and computational methods in remote sensing;
• Sensor Technology and Validation: Developments in sensor design, calibration, and validation—including active, passive, UAV-based systems and in situ spectroscopy;
• Diverse Applications: Novel applications across climate science, geosciences, atmospheric sciences, environmental sciences, ecology, and civil engineering;
• Rapidly Evolving Environmental or Natural Hazards: Studies highlighting findings on phenomena such as climate-induced disasters, important environmental or ecological events, and other critical natural hazards.

Focusing on concise, high-quality communications, we will ensure that your work reaches a broad, interdisciplinary audience quickly, fostering collaboration and accelerating advancements in the field. Our Section is a forum for timely and impactful contributions that meet the journal’s rigorous standards regarding scientific excellence.

More information about the Section can be found at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/sections/remote_sensing_letter.

The Outstanding Reviewer Award is given annually to recognize those who generously contribute their time to reviewing papers while displaying thoroughness, professionalism, and timeliness.

We are thrilled to announce the following interview with one of the winners of the Remote Sensing 2023 Outstanding Reviewer Award, Dr. Hugo Wai Leung Mak. In the field of academic publishing, reviewers play a pivotal role as the “gatekeepers” of scholarly quality. They meticulously examine each submitted academic paper with their expertise and rigorous approach, ensuring that its value and research quality meet the highest standards.

During this insightful interview, Dr. Hugo Wai Leung Mak will share his valuable experiences and unique perspectives on the peer review process. We hope that this interview will provide valuable insights for researchers and academic editors alike, offering guidance on adhering to academic norms and improving the overall quality of scholarly work.