Digital Modeling for Sustainable Forest Management

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable forest management, as defined by Forest Europe, refers to “the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems”. Achieving this goal necessitates accurate and timely information on forest resources to assess the sustainability of ecosystems and monitor progress over long planning horizons.

In recent decades, advancements in remote sensing technologies (e.g., spaceborne LiDAR, drones), computing power (e.g., supercomputing, cloud computing), and modeling techniques (e.g., quantitative structure models, digital twins, machine and deep learning) have significantly enhanced the ability of resource managers and researchers to measure and model various aspects of forest sustainability. This leads to the possibility of applying new approaches to forest management, such as precision forestry or climate-smart forestry. As such, acquiring, processing, and analyzing remotely sensed data have become indispensable, with digital modeling emerging as a critical tool for characterizing large forestlands, often in a spatially explicit manner. 

This Special Issue aims to explore the latest developments and applications of digital modeling in forestry, leveraging cutting-edge remote sensing tools and geospatial technologies to promote the sustainable management of forests. Since improved forest management often supports the sustainable provision of ecosystem goods and services, research focusing on characterizing and mapping forest ecosystem services is also encouraged.

We invite submissions employing remote sensing sources (e.g., optical sensors, laser scanning, radar) and platforms, including proximal (e.g., static/mobile scanners, multi-camera systems, depth sensors, drones), airborne (e.g., airborne laser scanning and imagery), and spaceborne (e.g., GEDI, ICESat-2, ALOS, Landsat, Sentinel satellites, to name a few). Studies integrating traditional field-measured data into 3D models through geographical information systems (GIS) are also welcome. To address global challenges in sustainable forest management, we particularly encourage research demonstrating how digital modeling can bridge the gap between remote sensing innovations and operational forestry practices across diverse regions worldwide.        

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Two- and three-dimensional forest ecosystem mapping and monitoring,
• Virtual or augmented reality applications for forestry,
• Characterization and modeling of forest structure or ecosystem services,
• Forest cover mapping and/or automated stand delineation,
• Digital twin frameworks for forest management planning,
• Forest mensuration and operational forest inventories,
• Developing and/or implementing forest simulators with visualization tools,
• 3D modeling of tree components, single trees, forest stands or forested landscapes.

Dr. Can Vatandaslar
Dr. Lana L. Narine
Dr. Martin Mokroš
Prof. Dr. Marguerite Madden
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. 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.

• geospatial modeling
• precision forestry
• enhanced forest inventory
• digital forestry
• remote sensing of forests
• image classification
• climate smart forestry