Remote Sensing Research and Application of Agricultural Drought and Water Management

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of global environmental and climate change, the world’s water resources are facing conflicting circumstances when balancing rapidly increasing demand and maintaining a sustainable ecological environment. The intensification of the water cycle leads to either drought and desertification or flooding and soil erosion, causing severe damage to ecosystems and planting systems. Among them, the problem of agricultural water use seriously affects food security and sustainable ecological development, especially in areas with severe water shortages, and agricultural water use problems will lead to significant economic and social challenges. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor agricultural drought and water resource management effectively, which can provide strong support for the formulation of scientific governance measures.

In recent decades, remote sensing technology, with its rapid detection capability, has opened up a new perspective for agricultural hydrological monitoring, water resource protection and planning, and irrigation water utilization. Remote sensing technology has freed the field from a dependence on traditional field measurements, enabling people to observe and estimate agricultural water-related issues on a larger spatial and temporal scale by using multi-sensor remote sensing technology, providing unique advantages for regional and even global agricultural drought and water use research.

This Topic focuses on innovative methods of agricultural drought and water resource planning and management based on remote sensing, including but not limited to：

• Drought research using a combination of sensors and technologies on the space–time scale (such as optical, microwave, hyperspectral, lidar, and constellation);
• Agricultural hydrological modeling;
• Irrigation and water resource management;
• Modeling evapotranspiration at the field and irrigation district scale;
• Eco-hydrology;
• Modeling irrigation district water–salt balance and non-point source pollution;
• Efficiently utilizing agricultural water resources;
• Interactions between water, agriculture, and natural ecosystems;
• Data assimilation for agricultural ecosystem modeling in irrigation systems;
• The use of drones and satellites for agricultural water management.

Prof. Dr. Songhao Shang
Dr. Khalil Ur Rahman
Topic Editors