Applications of Remote Sensing in Hydrology and Ecology: Observations, Methods, and Innovations
A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 27
Special Issue Editors
Interests: remote sensing; water storage change; GRACE/GRACE-FO satellites; hydrological modelling; data assimilation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: ecological remote sensing; vegetation phenology; time series analysis; climate change
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Remote sensing has been widely applied in hydrological and ecological research, offering the capability to monitor key variables over vast spatial and temporal domains. Recent advances in remote sensing technologies (e.g., SAR, GNSS, altimetry, optical and hyperspectral sensing) now allow for accurate and consistent observations of variables such as precipitation, evapotranspiration, groundwater storage, and vegetation dynamics. These observations are vital for understanding the terrestrial water cycle or ecosystem responses to climatic variability and anthropogenic disturbance, especially in data-limited regions, supporting water management and ecological resilience assessments.
This Special Issue mainly focuses on the diverse applications of remote sensing in hydrological and ecological science, encouraging contributions that leverage state-of-the-art satellite platforms (e.g., GRACE/GRACE-FO, SWOT, ICESat-2, Sentinel-1/2/3, Landsat, Gaofen, etc.) and innovative methodologies (e.g., data assimilation, machine learning). It seeks to highlight novel techniques that integrate multi-source observations with hydrological models or that advance our understanding of hydrological and ecological processes across scales.
Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to the following:
- Satellite-based estimation of hydrological variables (e.g., precipitation, evapotranspiration and soil moisture, etc.);
- Ecological remote sensing for monitoring vegetation health, productivity, and land degradation;
- Time series analysis of ecological indicators using long-term satellite observations;
- Remote sensing of snow, ice, and cryospheric hydrology;
- River/lake/reservoir extent and water level monitoring;
- Drought and flood monitoring using remote sensing;
- Data fusion and assimilation in hydrological modeling;
- Applications of machine learning and AI in hydrological remote sensing;
- Uncertainty analysis and validation of remotely sensed hydrological products.
We welcome original research articles, methodological developments, comparative analyses, and comprehensive reviews that contribute to advancing the application of remote sensing in hydrology.
Dr. Jingkai Xie
Dr. Jiaqi Tian
Guest Editors
Dr. Keqi He
Guest Editor Assistant
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.
Keywords
- remote sensing
- hydrological modelling
- data assimilation
- machine learning
- climate extremes monitoring
- ground water storage
- surface water dynamics
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
