High-Resolution Remote Sensing for Planetary Surface and Subsurface Geology: Techniques, Challenges, and Applications
A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Satellite Missions for Earth and Planetary Exploration".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 37
Special Issue Editors
Interests: electromagnetic waves in radar and communication systems; electromagnetic backscattering and radar target recognition; electromagnetic imaging and planetary exploration; ground-penetrating radar imaging and subsurface target detection; computational electromagnetism
2. Institute of Moon–Base Exploration and Observation, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Interests: lunar and planetary radar detection; radar astronomy; astronomical technology and methods; lunar and deep space exploration; lunar and planetary science; evolution of surface processes of solar system objects
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: planetary science; Mars; synthetic aperture radar (SAR); ground penetrating radar (GPR); electromagnetic propagation simulation; signal processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Remote sensing has completely changed how we study planets. From Earth to the Moon and Mars, high-resolution sensors on orbiters and landers have given us extraordinary new views of surface features and subsurface structures. These detailed datasets allow us to trace fine-scale geology and stratigraphy in ways that were impossible just a few decades ago—offering fresh insights into planetary evolution, composition, and even resource potential. But with such vast and complex information now at our fingertips, new scientific and technical challenges have emerged: How do we best interpret, integrate, and analyze all of this?
This Special Issue aims to gather the latest research on high-resolution remote sensing for planetary surface and subsurface geology. We welcome contributions that push the field forward through innovative methods, clever data integration strategies, and novel applications across different planetary settings. We’re particularly interested in work that combines multiple types of remote sensing data—optical, radar, thermal, geophysical—and in methodological advances that improve the resolution, accuracy, and interpretability of planetary geological data.
Ultimately, we hope this issue will become a shared space for the geoscience and remote sensing communities to exchange recent developments in image-based geological mapping, 3D terrain modelling, and subsurface structure inversion, especially in planetary contexts. Studies that make use of emerging tools—like machine learning, photogrammetry, data fusion, or spectral unmixing—are very much encouraged.
Potential topics include:
- High-resolution mapping of planetary surface morphology and tectonic features
- Subsurface imaging using radar, gravity, or other geophysical approaches
- 3D reconstruction of planetary terrains and geological units
- Extraction and analysis of geological features (craters, faults, lava flows, sedimentary layers, etc.)
- Spectral analysis for mineralogical and compositional characterization
Dr. Hongxia Ye
Dr. Chunyu Ding
Dr. Roberto Orosei
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-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
- subsurface imaging and inversion
- high-resolution remote sensing
- planetary geological feature
- spectral analysis
- geological mapping
- AI for planetary geological interpretation
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