LiDAR Technology in Forest Ecosystems: Advances and Applications in Forest Management, Monitoring and Modelling
A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Remote Sensing".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 554
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
LiDAR technology has transformed forest inventory by enabling highly precise measurements of key biometric parameters. This advancement has facilitated the accurate quantification of resources, the comprehensive assessment of conditions, and the development of tailored strategies for sustainable management and monitoring in forests. These technological innovations have improved both the accuracy and efficiency of estimating forest attributes and biodiversity indicators across diverse habitat types and spatial scales. Despite these achievements, a major challenge remains in scaling from detailed plot-level measurements to large-area and regional forest assessments. Overcoming this requires statistically robust sampling designs and reliable estimation methods, carefully calibrated with ground-based surveys, which ensure confidence and consistency in estimating forest attributes at multiple spatial scales.
This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in LiDAR methodologies that support structural and biodiversity assessment in forests, with a particular focus on bridging the gap between plot-level data and large-area monitoring. This aligns with the journal’s scope by emphasizing innovative remote sensing technologies and their applications in environmental monitoring and sustainable resource management. This issue seeks to foster interdisciplinary research that integrates LiDAR data with ground surveys and modeling approaches, thereby advancing forest inventory techniques that are both scientifically rigorous and operationally relevant.
We invite original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and case studies addressing the following themes:
- Innovative LiDAR methodologies for detailed forest structure and biodiversity assessment;
- The development and calibration of allometric and taper functions using LiDAR data;
- Statistically robust sampling designs and scaling techniques for large-area and regional forest inventories;
- The integration of LiDAR with ground-based surveys for improved forest attribute estimation;
- Applications of LiDAR in ecosystem monitoring and sustainable forest management.
Submissions that present novel algorithms, multi-sensor data fusion, machine learning approaches, and practical implementations in diverse forest ecosystems are particularly welcome.
Dr. Matteo Mura
Guest Editor
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. 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.
Keywords
- LiDAR
- airborne laser scanning
- forest inventory
- forest biometrics
- large area estimation
- forest management
- forest monitoring
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
