Special Issue "Global Croplands"
A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 February 2010) | Viewed by 345268
Special Issue Editor
Interests: hyperspectral remote sensing, remote sensing expertise in a number of areas including: (a) global croplands, (b) agriculture, (c) water resources, (d) wetlands, (e) droughts, (f) land use/land cover, (g) forestry, (h) natural resources management, (i) environments, (j) vegetation, and (k) characterization of large river basins and deltas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
With the era of green revolution fast fading, the world is looking at innovative approaches to curb potentially catastrophic effects of a looming long-term food crisis. Food security is tightly linked to croplands and their water use. More recently, other factors have come into play: conversion of croplands to bio-fuel lands and urban lands, loss of croplands to salinization and soil erosion, changing cropping patterns, production limits of existing crop varieties, and above all climate change. As a result, increases in grain production are becoming more difficult to achieve. Further, increasing cropland areas to grow more food is not an option given environmental and ecological impacts. So, we need to answer a central question: how do we grow more food from existing croplands and water resources and continue to feed the ballooning populations expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 from current 6 billion?
The greatest quantity of water used by humans is for producing food from croplands. For example, nearly 80% of all blue water (water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and ground water) used by humans is for growing food in irrigated croplands. Similarly, overwhelming proportion of the green water (water in soil moisture) used by humans is for producing food from rainfed croplands. However, water used by croplands is a complex phenomenon and depends on crop types, soil types, latitudelocation, type of irrigation, and a host of other issues. So, a proper understanding of these issues need us to inter-link croplands to water use, and food production considering a changing climate and keeping in view environmental sustainability, ecological integrity, and continued robust growth of economy.
In order to address above issues of great significance for humanity, we need to put collective knowledge of the best experts working in the area to facilitate solutions for generations to come.
Thereby, this special issue on “Global Croplands” by Journal “Remote Sensing” is an effort to bring together the collective knowledge base of the best experts involved in ensuring our food security for future generations. Given this, the overarching goal of this special volume will be to ensure that these diverse state-of-art knowledge base is available in one place for decision makers, experts, and other users in order to make use of the same and to advance our knowledge further to find smart solutions to overcome food crisis and produce in plenty for future generations. Thereby, I would like to seek articles from best multi-disciplinary experts addressing multitude of issues that are of relevance to ensure a food secure world for many generations to come. Specific topics may include:
Global cropland areas
- irrigated
- rainfed
- Remote sensing: At various spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal resolutions
- Non-remote sensing
- linking croplands to water use
- surface energy balance models
- other approaches like water balance
- water use assessments without use of thermal data
- Remote sensing approaches
- Non remote sensing approaches
- link to rainfed croplands and food production
- link to irrigated croplands and food production
- achievements, current stagnation, future growth possibilities
- opportunities
- Food security model
- linking economy to croplands, water use, and food security
- in mapping, modeling, and assessments
Prasad S. Thenkabail, Ph. D.
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- croplands
- water
- remote sensing
- global: food security
- surface energy balance models
- water productivity
- spatial modeling
- agriculture
- economy
- irrigated croplands
- rainfed croplands
- climate change