Advances in Land Use and Land Cover Mapping (Second Edition)

Dear Colleagues,

Land use and land cover (LULC) information underpins our understanding of the earth, and our impact on it. While often referred to interchangeably, land use and cover are two distinct concepts. Land cover refers to the physical surface of the earth, while land use refers to the purpose to which the land is committed. Whilst distinct, the two components of land information are intrinsically linked, and can be mapped and analyzed both separately and together in order to highlight linkages between land use, cover and management, as well as land transition.

LULC data support policy making, strategic planning, and monitoring, with an increasing focus on climate change and sustainability. LULC change plays a critical role in the global cycle of greenhouse gases. Given the applied nature of LULC information, and the increasing need for research methodologies to be translated and applied in governmental policy and decision making, it is critical to evaluate the reliability of such data (and the means and technologies used to create it) in order to ensure that strong evidence-based decisions are made.

There have been many recent advances in the production of spatial LULC information, including data integration approaches, the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics. The enhanced availability and accessibility of spatial LULC data creates its own challenges of interpretation, presentation and communication of diverse datasets, with new approaches required in an ever-evolving technology landscape.

This Special Issue seeks to focus on innovative approaches to LULC mapping, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Mapping and monitoring LULC at variety of spatial and temporal scales;
• Spatial LULC data analytics, including change detection;
• Validation of LULC information;
• Spatial LULC data reporting and visualization/communication approaches;
• Dataset development to support climate change and sustainability applications;
• Evidence-based decision making based on critically evaluated LULC information.

Dr. Kathryn Sheffield
Dr. Mohammad Abuzar
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. Land 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.

• land use mapping
• land cover mapping
• climate change
• sustainability
• validation
• data communication

• Advances in Land Use and Land Cover Mapping in Land (10 articles)