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Remote Sensing and GIS for Environmental Analysis and Cultural Heritage (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing for Geospatial Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 767

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Architecture and Arts, Università Iuav di Venezia, Santa Croce 191, 30135 Venezia, Italy
Interests: geomatics; metric survey techniques for cultural heritage assets; digital representation for cultural heritage assets
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, 40132 Bologna, Italy
Interests: 3D digitization for cultural heritage; digital photogrammetry; laser scanning; 3D surveying and modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering DIATI, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: heritage & built environment; cultural & architectural heritage; hbim; scan-to-BIM; point clouds; semantic segmentation; GeoAI
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, remote sensing techniques have been increasingly used alongside methodological approaches as well as trans- and multidisciplinary services to study, conserve, and sustainably exploit cultural and natural heritage and the environment. New digital technologies have opened up possibilities for cultural heritage (CH) and environmental assessment (EA) that were unthinkable just a few years ago. Current data, tools, and digital services allow us to characterize and understand heritage conservation status and have opened new horizons for monitoring.

Compared to ground-based survey techniques, satellite sensors offer other significant advantages, such as the ability to perform systematic and repeated measurements. Remote sensing enables diachronic analysis over large areas, allowing us to capture the dynamics of environmental processes and those related to cultural heritage with high spatial and temporal resolution.

The integration of multisource and multiscale data has now become an established operational practice in many sectors where synoptic territorial knowledge can support the better management of anthropic, natural, and semi-natural resources.

High-temporal-frequency optical and radar data enable semi-automatic monitoring procedures, even at the local scale, for multiple applications; their effectiveness has been increased by the integration of satellite data with data from other sensors, both mounted on aerial platforms such as UAV systems and from georeferenced in situ surveys conducted via established ground-based methods.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect and investigate the most recent research, trends, and practical applications in the field of remote sensing and GIS applied to cultural heritage. Topics of interest in this Special Issue include the following:

  • The integration of remote sensing data for environmental analysis and cultural heritage;
  • New tools and methods for spatial data generation;
  • Remote sensing technologies and GIS tools for the diagnosis and preservation of cultural heritage.

Dr. Caterina Balletti
Dr. Valentina Alena Girelli
Dr. Francesca Matrone
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

  • climate change and CH site preservation
  • advanced change detection techniques for CH
  • monitoring of CH sites
  • 3D mapping and M Modeling for CH preservation
  • mapping hazards
  • risk mapping
  • geospatial standards
  • GIS-BIM integration

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

27 pages, 17224 KB  
Article
When Geophysics Meets Geomatics and Archeology: Revealing the Connection Between Surface and Buried Structures at Iuvanum Archeological Site
by Donato Palumbo, Samuel Bignardi, Oliva Menozzi, Patrizia Staffilani and Massimiliano Pepe
Remote Sens. 2026, 18(6), 921; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18060921 - 18 Mar 2026
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Abstract
This study presents a multidisciplinary investigation of the archeological site of Iuvanum (Abruzzo, central Italy), integrating geophysics, geomatics, architectural analysis and archeology with the purpose of exploring the relationship between surface remains and buried structures of archeological value. This research focuses on the [...] Read more.
This study presents a multidisciplinary investigation of the archeological site of Iuvanum (Abruzzo, central Italy), integrating geophysics, geomatics, architectural analysis and archeology with the purpose of exploring the relationship between surface remains and buried structures of archeological value. This research focuses on the area covering part of the forum and part of the basilica, where ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were conducted to detect subsurface anomalies potentially associated with unexcavated architectural features. GPR line scans were acquired under complex topographic conditions, processed, and assembled into a three-dimensional representation, from which volumes of interest (VOIs) were extracted. These geophysical results were integrated into a comprehensive three-dimensional framework together with high-resolution UAV photogrammetry, digital elevation models, orthophotos and a virtual architectural model (VAM) of the site. The integrated visualization environment greatly facilitates the recognition of spatial relations between the detected anomalies and the hypothesized architectural elements. The observed GPR anomalies confirmed wall remains that were initially speculated or located along their geometrical continuation. Pavement levels, as well as some structures asymmetrical with respect to the purely geometric reconstruction, were also identified. This study demonstrates how integrating GPR with geomatic and archeological approaches improves the reliability and interpretative depth of non-invasive archeological prospecting. The proposed workflow provides a reproducible methodological framework propedeutical to excavation planning and suitable for the integration of information from multi-data sensors. Full article
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