Remote Sensing of Ecosystem Diversity

Dear Colleagues,

Remotely sensed Earth observations (RS/EO) is a key instrument for monitoring ecosystem functioning and diversity. The recent advances in sensor technology (i.e. fine spatial resolution, broad coverage and high revisit frequency) make its prompt application in highly heterogeneous ecosystems to the point that the use of RS/EO has been increasingly considered as an elective choice of many scientists across the world to measure some facets of biodiversity.

Current satellite/airborne multispectral imagery coupled with newly developed and future hyperspectral missions (e.g., EnMAP - Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program; PRISMA - Precursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa), together with high spatial resolution Radar sensor (e.g., Sentinel-1), open new opportunities for the analysis of ecosystems at a broad scale. Indeed, new analytical approaches relying on big data, ecoinformatics, cloud-based computing and spatio-temporal statistics have allowed significant improvement in the modelling, mapping, and detection of biological and ecological changes. Novel intriguing questions and issues could be derived by integrating remote sensing and field data acquisition and analysis. In this Special Issue dedicated to “Ecosystem Diversity”, we are calling for innovative, integrative and multidisciplinary contributions covering multiple facets of ecosystem diversity (including terrestrial floral and/or faunal components), from spectral to taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic features over different spatial scales (from ecosystems to habitats, communities and populations).

We would like to invite the whole community of ecologists, biologists and remote sensing scientists to submit articles about recent research with respect to the following topics:

• Relationships between plant trait diversity and multispectral/hyperspectral/radar data
• Relationships between spectral diversity and functional and phylogenetic diversity of terrestrial floral and/or faunal components of ecosystems
• Ecosystem diversity (spectral heterogeneity) and its variation across different spatial (habitats, communities, and populations) and temporal scales
• Ecosystem monitoring in space and time
• Novel methodological approaches (e.g., open-source platforms, R based packages for remote data analysis) in ecosystem diversity monitoring

Authors having ideas for potential Review articles can contact the Editors to discuss the suitability of the topic.

Dr. Francesco Petruzzellis
Dr. Enrico Tordoni
Mr. Daniele Da Re
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Bacaro
Prof. Dr. Duccio Rocchini
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.