Application of Autonomous Robotic Platforms in Aquatic Environmental Observation

Dear Colleagues,

Aquatic environmental observation is a broad topic that becomes crucial when considering particularly critical environments. In these specific applications, the lack of data is very often a penalizing factor for understanding the phenomena that are occurring and for the conservation of the ecosystems that characterize them. Although autonomous platforms already provide key observations for environmental assessment, further advances in autonomous systems are required to meet the growing ocean observation needs in different scientific fields such as biology, biogeochemistry, seabed mapping, deep ocean, and Polar exploration together with the growing need for real-time data. The use of robotic systems as fundamental data-gathering tools allows new perspectives and a greater understanding of the planet and its processes while also taking advantage of the possibility to characterize the environment with spatial and temporal resolutions that are not otherwise obtainable.

The aim of this Special Issue of JMSE is to welcome papers that address the most recent and innovative applications of autonomous robotic platforms to enhance the observation and monitoring of the aquatic environment, ranging from:

• Critical (polar) marine areas;
• Marine-protected areas, in which there are specific regulatory and environmental conservation constraints;
• Transitional aquatic areas, characterized by environmental conditions that are difficult to observe with traditional techniques (river mouths, lagoon or lake areas);
• Marine areas characterized by gaseous emissions from the seabed with phenomena that are not always repeatable and predictable;
• Management of coastal areas, even in emergency conditions (e.g., storms);
• port areas and seabed management for maritime traffic.

Special attention will be devoted to papers including original work supported by experimental trials and results.

Dr. Roberta Ferretti
Dr. Angelo Odetti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 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.

• aquatic environmental observation
• autonomous robotic platforms
• environmental monitoring
• innovative application of aquatic autonomous vehicles
• autonomous systems applications