Application of Remote Sensing in Arctic Ecosystem Monitoring

Dear Colleagues,

Arctic ecosystems play an exceptionally important role in regulating the global climate and supporting global biodiversity, and are highly responsive to climate variations, yet they are located in a region unusually remote from global infrastructure, which is physically challenging to reach and to work in, and is, at the same time, experiencing climate change at a greatly accelerated rate compared to the global average. Arctic ecosystems range from marine/sea ice and coastal ecosystems to polar desert, tundra and boreal forest ecosystems, and include high-latitude freshwater ecosystems. All are particularly well suited to study using remote sensing methods, from satellites, conventional aircraft, and uncrewed UAV systems. The topical importance of Arctic remote sensing derives especially from the impending Fifth International Polar Year 2032–2033, and from the current geopolitical situation which has made collaboration between Russia, in which half of the Arctic is located, and many other countries more difficult.

This Special Issue aims to bring together recent research using and developing new remote sensing tools for the study of terrestrial and marine Arctic ecosystems. Applications could include, but are not limited to, the monitoring of ice and snow, marine and coastal ecosystems, vegetation cover and dynamics, permafrost, Arctic wildlife, hydrology, meteorology, and atmospheric studies.

Data integration, modelling, big data, cloud computing, AI, and local-scale data acquisition approaches are all relevant. The fact that the Arctic is a human-inhabited space is also highly relevant, and contributions relating to human–ecosystem interactions, in both urban and non-urban settings, are particularly encouraged.

Dr. Gareth Rees
Dr. Olga Tutubalina
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.