1. Background & history of this topic

Advanced sensors, signal, and image processing technologies have the potential to monitor the health and growth of forests, detecting wildlife and habitat changes, and to identify potential threats such as insect infestations or wildfires. This critical study field provides valuable insights into pressing forest ecology and resource challenges and helps us develop sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation practices.

2. Aim and scope of the Special Issue:

This Special Issue aims to bring together researchers from various disciplines, including ecology, forestry, remote sensing, signal processing, and image analysis, to share their latest findings and insights.

• Smart sensors and IoT for forest ecology and resource management.
• Satellite or UAV remote sensing and image analysis for forest ecology and resource monitoring.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning for forest ecology and resource monitoring
• Audio, image, and video processing for wildlife and plant monitoring.
• Automatic monitoring of forest carbon stocks and fluxes, LiDAR technology for forest structure, and biomass estimation.
• Other novel and practical technologies for forest ecology and resource monitoring.

3. Cutting-edge research

• Development and application of novel forest environmental, soil, vegetation, and wildlife sensors.
• Signal and image processing with data fusion, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
• Satellite or UAV remote sensing, light detection, and ranging (LiDAR) for forest resource monitoring.
• Automatic monitoring of forest carbon stocks and fluxes.
• Audio, image, and video processing for wild animal and plant monitoring.

4. What kind of papers we are soliciting
The papers submitted to this Special Issue should be focused on advancing our understanding of how advanced sensors, artificial intelligence, and signal and image processing can improve forest ecology and resource monitoring effectively and should present novel insights or approaches that advance the field.

Prof. Dr. Yili Zheng
Prof. Dr. Xinwen Yu
Dr. Paul Sestras
Prof. Dr. Yue Zhao
Dr. Guang Deng
Dr. Ankur Srivastava
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 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. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

• sensors
• remote sensing
• LiDAR
• artificial intelligence
• machine learning
• IoT (internet of things)
• ecology monitoring
• resource monitoring
• carbon sequestration monitoring
• wildlife and plant monitoring

Dear Colleagues,

In the current context of urban area expansion, population growth, and the increase in industrial and agricultural activity near forest areas, the importance of sustainable forest management (SFM) with hazard mapping and monitoring is imperative. The backbone to many applications of SFM and hazard mapping is the access to accurate and efficiently acquired geospatial data. Because forests are one of the most complex ecological systems on Earth, forest management and inventory was always a challenge to specialists, researchers, and public authorities. In addition to the constant issues related to social, economic, and legal aspects related to forest management, the technical aspects have progressed significantly and modern data acquisition has never been more accessible to the public and research sector. This Special Issue aims to present and promote original scientific contributions in regard to modern and efficient data acquisition in a wide range of interdisciplinary applications related to sustainable forest management and natural hazards within forests. Thus, new tools and best practices, both in terms of data capture and in their processing and modelling, can be implemented in this rapidly evolving field.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• New tools and techniques in tree and forest measurement;
• Dendrometry, from the traditional forest inventory to modern solutions and practices;
• Land surveying in forests, from the established topographic field instrumentations (total stations, GNSS systems, TLS, etc.) to the new methods based on optical remote sensing (UAV or airborne platforms for LiDAR and digital photogrammetry, InSAR, satellite images, etc.);
• Challenges and advances in forest cadastre;
• Integrating models, methods, techniques and tools for geospatial applications in forestry;
• GIS applications in forest management, policy, and decision-making;
• Best practices, guidelines, and planning using acquired or open-sourced geospatial data;
• Mapping and monitoring urban forests;
• Precision forestry for SFM;
• Integration of field data and sensors in decision support systems;
• Spatial analysis and the influence of geographical origin on tree characteristics;
• Geospatial data for landscape and ecology assessment;
• Techniques for vegetation structure modelling and biomass assessment;
• Forest dynamics and the environmental/ecological implications;
• Forest hazard susceptibility and mapping based on acquired geospatial data;
• Assessment of landslides and flash floods in forests based on geomatics tools;
• Disaster prevention and risk mitigation of forest hazards based on geostatistics and field data.

• forest surveying methods
• sustainable forest management
• forest cadastre
• forest management planning
• dendrometry
• monitoring and mapping
• GIS and remote sensing
• data integration
• natural hazards
• hazard and risk assessment
• susceptibility and hazard mapping

Dear Colleagues, The main themes of this Special Issue include status analysis using GIS technology in order to develop methods of spatial analysis or geographical linkages to applied interdisciplinary research, innovative methods of research and data integration, as well as the processing and visualization of research results using the tools of spatial analysis and cartography.

Keywords

Dear Colleagues, The access to geospatial data is the backbone to numerous fields of research related to the fields of geodesy, geosciences, civil engineering, environmental studies, precision in agriculture, and forestry, etc. Thanks to the ongoing advances in instrumentation, software, and availability of open source data, data acquisition has never been more accessible to the public and research sectors. Geospatial techniques are efficient tools for the mapping, monitoring, and assessment of lands. An accurate land survey and field data acquisition can help scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders to improve the decision-making process in regards to better management, planning, and design. Thus, new tools and best practices, both in terms of data capture and in their processing and modelling, can be deployed to identify the most efficient solutions in a rapidly evolving field. This Special Issue aims to present and promote original scientific contributions to the concepts, technologies, methods, and tools in the acquisition and processing of geospatial data in a wide range of interdisciplinary applications. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• New tools and techniques in field data acquisition, from the traditional topographic-geodetic instrumentations (total stations, GNSS systems, TLS, etc.) to the modern solutions (UAV, LiDAR, digital photogrammetry, satellite images, etc.);
• Models, methods, techniques, and tools for geospatial applications;
• Integrating modern techniques of data acquisition in cadastre and technical documentation in order to increase productivity and mitigate field risk;
• Improving the traditional topographic surveys with the help of geomatics tools and GIS applications;
• Advances in 3D modelling;
• New developments in sensors for surveying and monitoring;
• Surveying methods for monitoring and documentation of the built environment;
• Techniques for 3D data acquisition and objects reconstruction/modelling;
• Best practices, guidelines, and planning using acquired geospatial data;
• Mapping and monitoring in a rapidly urbanizing world;
• GIS applications in land management, land policy, and decision making.

Keywords