Smart Monitoring of Urban Environment Using Remote Sensing

Dear Colleagues,

As the 21st century progresses, urbanization continues to change the land into the primary habitat for most of the global population. This rapid urban expansion requires a deeper discussion of the changing urban environment, which is critical in achieving sustainable development across global and regional scales. Metropolitan areas are a system where people and nature are connected, and we look at how socio-economic processes interact with the surrounding rural and natural areas. Therefore, understanding how the urban environment supports their functioning becomes crucial for sustainable urban development.

Recently, advancements in computer science, internet communication technology (ICT), remote sensing, and data science have revolutionized urban monitoring and management. Smart monitoring systems using cutting-edge technologies enable a more dynamic and precise investigation of urban environments. These advancements help to deeper examine the trajectories of spatial and temporal changes, urban population exposure to extreme heat waves, human exposure to green space during urbanization, changes in hydrological patterns in urban areas, climate-smart agriculture in urban and urban-rural fringes, and trade-offs and synergies, in which these factors play an essential role in sophisticating urban planning and policy.

This Special Issue aims to gather high-quality and innovative scientific articles that combine remote sensing and data science to improve the smart monitoring of cities. Studies should encompass the latest global trends and focus on innovative methods for addressing critical urban challenges, such as heat mitigation, water resource management, and the role of urban agriculture in enhancing food security, with the overall goal of improving the quality of life and offering valuable insights for policy recommendations and sustainable urban planning.

We invite contributions that provide innovative solutions and integrate various interdisciplinary approaches to enhance our understanding of how technology can develop urban ecosystem management. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Global trends in the integration of smart monitoring of urban environments;
• Applications of remote sensing in monitoring urban heat islands;
• Urban agriculture as a tool for sustainability and climate resilience;
• Integrating urban forestry and hydrology for sustainable city planning;
• Landscape sustainability through spatiotemporal urban ecosystem monitoring;
• Smart systems for managing urban risk and environmental trade-offs;
• The role of big data in enhancing urban sustainability and resilience.

We encourage submissions that explore these key issues and present cutting-edge approaches to ensuring sustainable urban futures.

Dr. Darshana Athukorala
Prof. Dr. Yuji Murayama
Prof. Dr. Takehiro Morimoto
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.