Remote Sensing Applications in Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)

Dear Colleagues,

The land-use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector is increasingly becoming an important contributor to the success of climate policies that aim for carbon neutrality, such as those outlined by the Paris Agreement. It represents the only in the GHG inventory sector where carbon dioxide can be emitted but also removed from the atmosphere through carbon sequestration. Once all options for mitigation of greenhouse gases have technically and economically been exhausted in other economic sectors, the LULUCF sector can continue to compensate for the remaining greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. This means there is an increasing demand for reliable data on emissions and removals in the LULUCF sector. In addition, there is an increasing demand for using explicit geospatial information in the calculation of LULUCF emissions and removals in national greenhouse gas inventories. Expanded LULUCF regulation and progress in remote sensing techniques and methodologies have stimulated the development of monitoring methods and the cooperation of many research institutions with stakeholders such as policy makers and national inventory compilers.

Remote sensing is on its way to becoming one of the most relevant data sources for LULUCF monitoring. Remote sensing systems from different platforms serve as an important method and tool for stakeholders and institutions responsible for LULUCF reporting. The open data policy and supporting programs (e.g., Copernicus) have evoked implementation of the increased use of remote sensing in LULUCF. On the other hand, there remain many gaps in the conceptual and harmonized implementation of remote sensing-based methods and data in the LULUCF reporting.

This Special Issue aims to gather relevant research studies that use remote sensing techniques and data in LULUCF monitoring and that apply these data in national greenhouse gas inventories. Authors are invited to submit papers that address new and state-of-the-art remote sensing methods and present novel and new approaches, in addition to general contributions that present applications in support of the improvement and quality control of national-level LULUCF emission inventories. Papers that deal with LULUCF reporting requirements and stakeholder needs in relation to the international and national implementation frameworks of LULUCF and that check the reliability of such data are especially welcome. Papers that deal with subnational- or global-level monitoring, reporting, and verification are welcome, provided that upscaling or downscaling methodologies in relation to national LULUCF emission inventories comprise a significant element of the presented study.

Dr. Ali Nadir Arslan
Prof. Dr. Katarzyna Dabrowska-Zielinska
Dr. Jose Manuel Álvarez-Martínez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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