Call for Papers: Understanding Uncertainty in Remotely Sensed Vegetation Data Products

Accurately quantifying spatial patterns of vegetation structure, health, and composition is integral to our understanding of local and global ecological change and to monitoring diverse ecosystems. In this context, remote sensing methods are essential for measuring multiple biophysical properties over broad geographical regions. However, despite the recognized need to use remote sensing methods, they bring with them unique challenges.  These include incorporation of a wide range of both active and passive remote sensor types; non-uniform collection and processing methods; and varying in situ validation methods. If not well-characterized, these factors can reduce the accuracy associated with remote sensing derived estimates of local on-the-ground measurements and processes across larger regions.  Further, they produce variability in data product and analysis outcomes that is not well-understood. Understanding this variability is integral to missions such as ICESAT-II, BIOMASS, Sentinel, HyspIRI, EnMAP, NEON, and Australia’s TERN and 3DEP, that will be providing widely available remote sensing data products to support scientific study and quantification of vegetation state and dynamics.

This special issue of Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing focuses on quantifying uncertainty in remotely sensed estimates of vegetation biophysical characteristics. Paper topics could include uncertainty associated with instrument specification / configuration / calibration, data collection, processing and analysis, or identifying best analysis methods which reduce this uncertainty in resulting vegetation data products.

We especially encourage submissions that

• focus on spectral or structural (active or passive sensor) modalities, but use both in a fusion approach to reduce uncertainty;
• address the scalability of remote sensing estimates; and
• are aligned with planned science community biophysical products, such as those found in the large scope ecological observatories.

All submissions will be peer-reviewed in line with PE&RS policy. Because of page limits, not all submissions recommended for acceptance by the review panel may be included in the special issue. Under this circumstance, the guest editors will select the most relevant papers for inclusion in the special issue. Papers that are reviewed favorably, but will not fit within the Special Issue, can be revised and submitted for review as a new paper to the PE&RS Editor-in-Chief for possible publication in a future regular issue of PE&RS.  Authors must prepare manuscripts according to the PE&RS Instructions to Authors, published in each issue of PE&RS and also available on the ASPRS web site at Instructions for Authors.