Dear Colleagues,

Of all the remote sensing techniques, optical methods occupy the prime position in the monitoring and modelling of local/regional/continental/hemispherical/global climate and underlying land surface, atmospheric and oceanic phenomena. These techniques make use of visible, near infrared and short-wave infrared sensors to form images of targets through detecting the solar radiation reflected from thereof on the ground, since different materials reflect and absorb differently at different wavelengths. Thus, targets can be differentiated through their spectral scattering/absorbance/reflectance signatures in remotely sensed images. Almost all satellite remote sensing methods use passive optical methods for the retrieval of complex information from the atmosphere and oceans. In this context, satellites such as CALIPSO (cloud–aerosol Lidar and infrared pathfinder satellite observation), making use of active optical methods, have special significance in qualifying/quantifying various ultrafine-scale features of the atmosphere and oceans. With the advent of recent developments in source characteristics, detection/data acquisition/display methods, optical remote sensing techniques, ranging from simple filter photometers to highly advanced cutting-edge technology-based high-spectral resolution LIDARs and solar/lunar radiometers, have become more powerful in the remote sensing of the Earth, its atmosphere and oceans. Early optical remote sensing systems relied on multispectral sensors characterized by a small number of wide spectral bands. Although multispectral sensors are still in use, in recent years, a paradigm shift occurred in sensor technology from multispectral to hyperspectral bands, characterized by hundreds of fine-resolution coregistered spectral bands, and became the dominant optical sensing technology. Such superfine-resolution datasets have the potential to reveal underlying phenomenological features of the atmosphere, oceans and associated bio-geochemical processes. Optical remote sensing methods, in conjunction with systems operating in other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, also provide excellent benefits to the field of ocean–atmospheric science and technology.

This Special Issue aims to provide reference/resource materials to both academicians and researchers, dealing with remote sensing methods using a variety of platforms in the most advanced field of optical remote sounding of the atmosphere and oceans. Moreover, this cutting-edge technology book includes various technological and system developmental aspects in terms of sensors and data acquisition algorithms. Further, the R&D sessions, covered in this Special Issue, have the potential of benefitting innovative and research-driven endeavours. Thus, this book is a valuable source of information to students and professionals in the field of atmospheric physics, applied science, meteorology and engineering.

Suggested Themes

• Remote sounding of different atmospheric and ocean products;
• Interpretation/assessment of measurements;
• Remote sounding of meteorological parameters;
• Different types of optical remote sounding techniques;
• Remote sensing from different platforms and environments;
• Latest developments in sensors, data acquisition and display systems;
• Inversion methods;
• Instrumentation and modelling;
• Calibration and validation;
• Comparison between remote sensing and in situ techniques.

Prof. Dr. Panuganti C.S. Devara
Dr. Vijay K. Soni
Dr. Atul Kumar Srivastava
Dr. Teodosio Lacava
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. 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.

• passive/active remote sensing
• ground-based/satellite methods
• scattering/absorption
• advances in source characteristics
• improvements in data processing algorithms
• applications to land–atmosphere–ocean linkages
• measurements and modelling
• multiplatform sounding
• weather and climate