Remote Sensing with Radar or Lidar for Multi-Scale Atmospheric Observation

Dear Colleagues,

Atmospheric processes exhibit complex multi-scale characteristics (from micro-scale aerosols to synoptic-scale circulations) and directly impact human production activities, ecological security, and sustainable development. Accurate, continuous, and multi-dimensional atmospheric observation is essential for advancing climate change research, improving early warnings of meteorological disasters, optimizing air quality management, and supporting the deployment of renewable energy. However, traditional observation methods—such as ground-based in situ stations (with sparse spatial coverage) and passive satellite remote sensing (with limited temporal resolution)—struggle to capture the spatiotemporal heterogeneity and interaction mechanisms of atmospheric processes across different scales, creating a bottleneck in terms of solving complex problems pertaining to atmospheric science.

The rapid development of active remote sensing technologies that employ radar and lidar has revolutionized multi-scale atmospheric observation. Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), with its high spatial–temporal resolution and strong sensitivity to small particles, enables precise profiling of atmospheric parameters such as aerosols, cloud microphysics, boundary layer height, and wind fields at the near-surface-to-tropospheric scale. Radar is effective in all-weather operation and long-distance detection, making it indispensable for monitoring precipitation systems, middle-to-upper tropospheric humidity, and synoptic-scale circulation. The integration of these two technologies overcomes the limitations of single-sensor observation, enabling seamless coverage from micro-scale particle detection to regional-scale atmospheric system monitoring.

This Special Issue calls for original research, reviews, methodology papers, and case studies pertaining to “Remote Sensing with Radar or Lidar for Multi-Scale Atmospheric Observation”.

(1) Aim of the Special Issue

This Special Issue aims to serve as an interdisciplinary platform for showcasing cutting-edge research and methodological innovations in radar and lidar remote sensing, and their practical applications in multi-scale atmospheric observation. Its core objectives are as follows:

First, it aims to gather original research and review articles that demonstrate technical advances in radar/lidar atmospheric remote sensing—including the development of high-performance sensors (e.g., miniaturized lidar, phased-array radar), optimization of data inversion algorithms (e.g., machine learning-enabled parameter retrieval, noise reduction for weak signals), and integration of multi-platform observation systems (ground-based, airborne, and spaceborne synergy).

Second, it aims to promote the exploration of atmospheric dynamic processes based on microwave radar and lidar, including aerosol–cloud–precipitation interaction and boundary layer–troposphere exchange mechanisms.

Third, it aims to strengthen the translation of remote sensing technology into practical solutions to global challenges, focusing on applications in meteorological disaster early warning (e.g., real-time monitoring of sandstorms and thunderstorms), air quality management (e.g., greenhouse  gas and particulate matter profiling), and renewable energy development (e.g., wind resource assessment).

(2) Alignment with the Scope of the Journal Remote Sensing

The theme of this Special Issue is highly consistent with the core scope and academic mission of the journal Remote Sensing (ISSN: 2072-4292), a leading interdisciplinary publication dedicated to advancing remote sensing science, technology, and their interdisciplinary applications. Remote Sensing prioritizes research on active remote sensing systems and their environmental applications—particularly the development, calibration, and validation of radar and lidar technologies. This Special Issue focuses on the innovation and optimization of these two core active sensing tools for atmospheric observation, directly aligning with the journal’s emphasis on remote sensing technology research. The journal explicitly welcomes studies on remote sensing data inversion, multi-source data fusion, and scale conversion methodologies—topics central to this Special Issue. In addition, the research addressed herein on the synergistic inversion of radar/lidar data, cross-platform data integration, and multi-scale atmospheric parameter mapping aligns with the journal’s methodological focus. By focusing on the intersection of radar/lidar technology, multi-scale atmospheric science, and interdisciplinary applications, this Special Issue adheres to the journal’s scope of promoting innovative remote sensing research and its societal impact.

This Special Issue’s scope includes, but is not limited to, the following themes:

(1) Multi-source data fusion and innovation of lidar/radar.

(2) Machine learning methods applied to the retrieval and prediction of atmospheric parameters based on lidar or radar.

(3) Innovative methods and technologies for lidar or radar.

(4) Multi-scale radar/lidar technologies for the detection of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) structure and turbulence.

(5) Advanced inversion algorithms for key atmospheric parameters (aerosols, clouds, wind profiles, humidity) using multi-source radar/lidar data.

(6) Lidar/radar-based observation and prediction of mesoscale convective systems and extreme weather events.

(7) Application of multi-scale radar/lidar remote sensing in renewable energy meteorology.

(8) Assimilation of radar/lidar multi-scale observation data into numerical weather prediction (NWP) models.

(9) Innovative signal processing and quality control algorithms for radar/lidar.

Article Types: This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews.

Dr. Zhifeng Shu
Prof. Dr. Zhiqiu Gao
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.