Announcements

The articles below have been selected as 2024 Issue Cover Articles by the Editorial Office of Land (ISSN: 2073-445X). These articles came from multiple fields within the scope of Land, and we hope they can provide insights and references for scholars in related fields.

	“How Can Drones Uncover Land Degradation Hotspots and Restoration Hopespots? An Integrated Approach in the Mount Elgon Region with Community Perceptions” by Hosea Opedes, Shafiq Nedala, Caspar A. Mücher, Jantiene E. M. Baartman and Frank Mugagga Land 2024, 13(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13010001 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/1/1
	“Enhancing Sustainability and Yield in Maritime Pine Forests: Evaluating Silvicultural Models for Natural Regeneration” by André Sandim, Maria Emília Silva, Paulo Fernandes and Teresa Fonseca Land 2024, 13(2), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13020170 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/2/170
	“Your Favourite Park Is Not My Favourite Park: A Participatory Geographic Information System Approach to Improving Urban Green and Blue Spaces—A Case Study in Edinburgh, Scotland” by Charlotte Wendelboe-Nelson, Yiyun Wang, Simon Bell, Craig W. McDougall and Catharine Ward Thompson Land 2024, 13(3), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13030395 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/3/395
	“A Land Administration Data Exchange and Interoperability Framework for Kenya and Its Significance to the Sustainable Development Goals” by Clifford Okembo, Javier Morales, Christiaan Lemmen, Jaap Zevenbergen and David Kuria Land 2024, 13(4), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13040435 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/4/435
	“Landscape Analysis and Coastal Planning: Ría de Arosa (Pontevedra, Spain)” by Carlos E. Nieto, Antonio Miguel Martínez-Graña and Leticia Merchán Land 2024, 13(5), 645; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050645 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/5/645
	“Evaluating Urban Green Space Inequity to Promote Distributional Justice in Portland, Oregon” by Evan Elderbrock, Kory Russel, Yekang Ko, Elizabeth Budd, Lilah Gonen and Chris Enright Land 2024, 13(6), 720; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060720 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/6/720
	“Using Radiometric and Categorical Change to Create High-Accuracy Maps of Historical Land Cover Change in Watersheds of the Great Lakes Basin” by Andrew F. Poley, Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez, Jeremy A. Graha, Dorthea J. L. Vander Bilt, Dana Redhuis, Michael J. Battaglia, Robert E. Kennedy and Nancy H. F. French Land 2024, 13(7), 920; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13070920 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/7/920
	“Form-Based Code Revisited: Leveraging Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Optimization to Chart Commuting Efficiency Landscapes under Alternative City Planning Frameworks” by Reza Mortaheb, Piotr Jankowski, Alan Murray and Marcos Bastian Land 2024, 13(8), 1190; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081190 Available online: https://mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/8/1190
	“Twenty Years of Land Accounts in Europe” by Eva Ivits, Erika Orlitova, Roger Milego, Gergely Maucha, Barbara Kosztra, Emanuele Mancosu, Jaume Fons, Mirko Gregor, Manuel Löhnertz and Gerard Hazeu Land 2024, 13(9), 1350; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091350 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/9/1350
	“Agroecology for the City—Spatialising ES-Based Design in Peri-Urban Contexts” by Richard Morris, Shannon Davis, Gwen-Aëlle Grelet and Pablo Gregorini Land 2024, 13(10), 1589; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13101589 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/10/1589
	“Identifying Potential Urban Greenways by Considering Green Space Exposure Levels and Maximizing Recreational Flows: A Case Study in Beijing’s Built-Up Areas” by Tao Liu, Le Yu, Xin Chen, Yunmiao Chen, Xiaomeng Li, Xinyi Liu, Yue Cao, Fan Zhang, Chenggang Zhang and Peng Gong Land 2024, 13(11), 1793; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13111793 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/11/1793
	“Integrating Local Food Policies and Spatial Planning to Enhance Food Systems and Rural–Urban Links: A Living Lab Experiment” by Francesca Galli, Sabrina Arcuri, Giovanni Belletti, Andrea Marescotti, Michele Moretti and Massimo Rovai Land 2024, 13(12), 2014; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13122014 Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/12/2014

MDPI will be attending the General Assembly 2025 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), which will be held in Vienna, Austria, and online, from 27 April to 2 May 2025 at booth #02 in the Entrance Hall. The EGU General Assembly 2025 brings together geoscientists from all over the world to one meeting, covering all disciplines of Earth, planetary, and space science. The EGU aims to provide a forum where scientists, especially early career researchers, can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geoscience.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Remote Sensing;
• Water;
• Geosciences;
• Hydrology;
• Aerobiology;
• Applied Sciences;
• Atmosphere;
• Climate;
• Coasts;
• Earth;
• Energies;
• Environments;
• Fire;
• Forests;
• Gases;
• GeoHazards;
• Geomatics;
• Geotechnics;
• Glacies;
• ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (IJGI);
• Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (JMSE);
• Land;
• Limnological Review;
• Meteorology;
• Minerals;
• Nitrogen;
• Quaternary;
• Resources;
• Soil Systems;
• Sustainability.

If you are attending the conference, please visit our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://www.egu25.eu/.

More than 100 German universities and research institutions have entered into a national agreement with MDPI. The publication agreement negotiated by ZB MED comes into effect on 1 January 2025 and is valid until the end of 2026. Joining the consortium is still possible until the beginning of 2025. We are delighted by the high level of interest this agreement has already garnered, reflecting the strong demand for accessible and cost-effective open access publishing solutions among German research institutions.

This new cooperation aims to make scientific gold open access publishing more affordable and less administratively burdensome for researchers in Germany. The agreement includes substantial discounts on article processing charges (APCs) for corresponding authors from participating institutions. It offers flexible payment options, including centralized invoicing or individual payment of fees by researchers or their institutions. Additionally, the agreement features a flat-fee model that enables institutions to precisely plan expenses and optimize their library budgets.

"MDPI can look back on over a decade of successful partnerships with German research institutions," says Peter Roth, MDPI Head of Publishing. "The new agreement marks another milestone in the long-standing co-operation between MDPI and the German scientific community. It emphasizes our commitment to developing up-to-date and inventive solutions for the diverse needs of scientific institutions to promote open research for the benefit of researchers."

Petra Labriga, Head of Strategic License Management at ZB MED, highlighted the agreement's significance: "As one of the world's leading Gold OA publishers, MDPI plays a central role in the German publishing landscape. We are particularly pleased that we were able to achieve considerable potential cost savings for scientific institutions and their authors at a national level through our negotiations."

The partnership reflects a common goal of advancing the idea of open access and supporting researchers in making their scientific excellence internationally visible.

"We would like to thank the ZB MED consortium team for their excellent collaboration," added Adrian Stefan Zamfir, MDPI Institutional Partnership Manager for the DACH region. "We are delighted that this agreement will give even more researchers in Germany access to our tried-and-tested and reliable publication platform."

Franziska Fischer (right), Commercial Director at ZB MED, an Peter Roth (left), Head of Publishing at MDPI, celebrate the signing of the new national open access agreement between MDPI and the ZB MED Consortium.

More Information

• Conditions and participation opportunities (German): Link
• Frequently asked questions (German): Link

Contact

• ZB MED: Team Konsortiallizenzen ([email protected]) - Website
  MDPI: Adrian Stefan Zamfir, Institutional Partnership Manager ([email protected])
  
  

About ZB MED

ZB MED - Information Centre for Life Sciences is an infrastructure and research centre for life science information and data. Its aim is to support and strengthen research for people and the environment: from medicine to biodiversity and environmental protection.

The work of ZB MED is orientated towards the strategic guidelines:

• Research + Networking: We conduct research together with the regionally, nationally, European and globally networked research community.
• Data science: We enable data analyses and generate new knowledge through research.
• Access to information: We provide sustainable access to information, literature and data as a central information infrastructure.
• Open + FAIR: We promote open and reproducible science in line with open science and FAIR principles.
• Knowledge and skills transfer: We actively impart knowledge, competences and skills.

More information at www.zbmed.de.

About MDPI

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, MDPI is one of the world's leading open access publishers with a current portfolio of more than 440 journals in all scientific disciplines. MDPI‘s goal is to advance open science worldwide through greater transparency, efficiency and collaboration. To date, more than 3.7 million researchers have published their results in MDPI journals. The editorial process is overseen by a large network of dedicated reviewers and editors and supported by more than 6500 MDPI employees. MDPI currently works with over 800 academic institutions and 180 scientific societies worldwide, which benefit from a wide range of MDPI services and products.

We are pleased to announce a series of updates to our template, aimed at improving the readability and overall aesthetics of our publications. These changes have been meticulously designed to enhance the user experience and ensure consistency across all our publications. The updated template will be available for download from the Instructions for Authors page.

The following updates will be applied to articles published in the 2025 volumes, starting on 24 December 2024:

• Main text: The line spacing has been increased to improve the readability of publications;
• Header and footer: The link to the journal website will be removed, as a hyperlink has been integrated into the journal logo. Additionally, the DOI link will be moved from the left-hand side to the right-hand side, and both the header and footer will be slightly raised to achieve a better balance;
• Left information bar: The information provided here has been rearranged for better organization; the CC-BY logo will be removed;
• Font size: The font size used for the abstract, keywords, and first-level headings will be increased.

Furthermore, MDPI journals will continue to use article numbers. This approach enables us to maintain a rapid and efficient production process by being able to define pagination as soon as a paper is accepted.

We hope that the new version of the template will provide users with a better experience and make the process more convenient.

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions or suggestions.

The Land Editorial Office would like to warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Nick B. Comerford as the newly appointed Section Editor-in-Chief of the “Land, Soil and Water” Section of Land (ISSN: 2073-445X).

Prof. Dr. Nick B. Comerford shared his academic research background, as well as his vision for the “Land, Soil and Water” Section, in the video interview below:

We believe that, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Nick B. Comerford, the “Land, Soil and Water” Section can collate more of the latest research outputs in the field of soil and land research and provide a wide-ranging academic exchange and publishing platform for researchers.

We wish Prof. Dr. Nick B. Comerford every success in his position as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 685 Editorial Board Members of our journals – from 39 different countries and territories – who have been recognized as Highly Cited Researchers for 2024 by Clarivate. This distinction highlights their exceptional scientific achievements and significant contributions, which transcend academic boundaries to advance global knowledge, sustainability, security, and well-being.

Clarivate's annual Highly Cited Researcher™ list identifies the most influential scientists of the past decade, whose work has had a profound and widespread impact across various scientific and social science disciplines. Their impactful papers rank among the top 1% by citations in one or more of the 21 fields analyzed within the "Essential Science Indicators," marking them as leaders in their respective domains.

"Highly Cited Researchers have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research," according to Clarivate. In 2024, a total of 6,886 Highly Cited Researcher designations were awarded to 6,636 individuals.

The following is a list of MDPI's Editorial Board Members named Highly Cited Researchers in 2024. We congratulate them for their achievement and their contributions to advancing knowledge in their respective fields.

A message from the webinar Chair:
It is a pleasure to welcome you to this webinar, entitled “Leveraging AI: Integrating Remote Sensing, GIS, and Machine Learning for Natural Disaster Resilience”, and hosted by Remote Sensing, Drones, Land, IJGI, and Geomatics. We are excited to bring together a remarkable group of experts and innovators from around the world to tackle a critical challenge of the modern era: building resilience against natural hazards through the power of advanced technology.
Natural hazards, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and droughts, have profound impacts on communities and lead to devastating financial and human losses. In this webinar, we will explore the latest technological breakthroughs in this field, where machine learning (ML), remote sensing (RS), and geographic information systems (GISs) are reshaping how we approach these complex challenges. This session will highlight ML methods that can extract meaningful insights from large data sets, transforming raw information into valuable knowledge. GISs add a vital dimension to these insights, acting as powerful tools for spatial analysis and visualization. In addition, given recent advances in deep learning, ensemble methods, evolutionary algorithms, and explainable AI (XAI), the capabilities of hazard prediction and preparedness have never been more promising.
Our aim is to foster connections, spark new ideas, and explore how these innovative approaches are transforming hazard mapping, monitoring, and assessment. Thank you for being part of this crucial journey. I hope you have an inspiring day filled with insights, collaboration, and discovery.
Warm regards,
Dr. Paraskevas Tsangaratos

Date: 11 December 2024 at 9:00 a.m. CET | 4:00 p.m. CST Asia | 10:00 a.m. EET 
Webinar ID: 843 0771 3005
Website: https://sciforum.net/event/Topics-30

Register now for free!

 

Program:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will let you know when the recording is available to watch.

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. Paraskevas Tsangaratos, Department of Geological Studies, School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, National University of Athens, Athens, Greece;
• Prof. Dr. Raffaele Albano, School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy;
• Dr. Haoyuan Hong, School of Geographic Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China;
• Dr. Dimitrios Loukidis, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Relevant Special Issues:
“Assessing Natural Hazards through Advanced Machine Learning Methods and Remote Sensing Technology: 3rd Edition”
Guest Editors: Dr. Paraskevas Tsangaratos, Dr. Wei Chen, Dr. Ioanna Ilia and Dr. Haoyuan Hong
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024

“Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Global Challenges: Current Technologies and Future Prospects”
Guest Editors: Dr. Bashar Alsadik, Prof. Dr. Francesco Nex, Prof. Dr. Fabio Remondino and Dr. Jesús Balado Frías
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024

“Advances in Remote Sensing and GIS for Natural Hazards Monitoring and Management”
Guest Editors: Dr. Adrianos Retalis and Dr. Dimitrios D. Alexakis
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024

“Artificial Intelligence for Soil Erosion Prediction and Modeling”
Guest Editors: Dr. Nikiforos Samarinas, Dr. Nikolaos L. Tsakiridis, Dr. Nikolaos Tziolas and Dr. Ioannis N. Daliakopoulos
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 3 April 2025

Relevant Article:
“Geospatial Intelligence and Machine Learning Technique for Urban Mapping in Coastal Regions of South Aegean Volcanic Arc Islands”
Authors: Pavlos Krassakis, Andreas Karavias, Paraskevi Nomikou, Konstantinos Karantzalos, Nikolaos Koukouzas, Stavroula Kazana, Issaak Parcharidis
Geomatics 2022, 2(3), 297-322; https://doi.org/10.3390/geomatics2030017

MDPI will attend the Second World Geography Conference, which will take place from 22 to 24 of November 2024 at the Shanghai International Procurement Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China.

To promote the study of geography in China, specifically that of major global issues and different countries’ regional geography, the Chinese Geographical Society, the East China Normal University, the China National Innovation and Development Strategy Research Association, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully held the First World Geography Congress in Shanghai in November 2022. The congress, with the theme of “Geography and Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” conducted in-depth exchanges and reached a broad consensus, releasing the “Declaration of the World Geography Congress” which called for holding said congress every two years. After careful consideration, the Second World Geography Congress is scheduled to be held in Shanghai from 22 to 24 of November 2024.

We welcome you to visit MDPI’s booth, where you will be able to have face-to-face exchanges with our representatives, learn more about our open access publishing services, and acquire gifts.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Remote Sensing;
• Climate;
• Atmosphere;
• Geographies;
• Geosciences;
• Oceans;
• Energies;
• Sustainability;
• Resources;
• Clean Technologies;
• Land;
• Environments.

If you plan to attend this conference, we invite you to visit our booth and converse with our delegates at the conference venue. We are excited to meet you in person and will address any questions that you may have. For further details about this conference, please visit the following website: http://www.wgeoc.com/.

Join us for an engaging webinar! Coastal waterways and the natural systems that surround them are changing at an unprecedented rate due to population growth, the intensification of land use, and climate change. Monitoring the health of coastal waterways as well as natural systems and documenting their pace and pattern of change are both vital for informing coastal management and guiding solutions. In this webinar, Tracking Coastal Change with Geospatial Artificial Intelligence Techniques, we will explore a series of emerging technologies for achieving such coastal monitoring and change assessment tasks. Over the course of a series of short presentations, we will share the scope of the interdisciplinary work being pursued by members of the University of Florida's Center for Coastal Solutions in the rapidly growing space of geospatial AI, in addition to highlighting innovative application examples. These examples will include the exploration of (1) a new deep learning-based method for identifying tidal creeks and wetland features from high-resolution remotely sensed images, (2) an AI-enhanced technique for assessing salt marsh morphology from UAV-derived images, and (3) a neural network classifier that combines remote sensing data with spatiotemporally distributed in situ sample data to monitor blooms of the potentially harmful algae Karenia brevis (or red tide). We will welcome questions to engage and include the audience through the webinar.

Date: 21 November 2024
Time: 4:00 p.m. CET | 10:00 a.m. EDT | 11:00 p.m. CST Asia
Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UtOEEZb4T2eLv8sOBAZdqA
Webinar ID: 842 6788 0032
Webinar Secretariat: [email protected]
Webinar announcement: https://sciforum.net/event/Topics-28

Register now for free!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic or institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Feel free to still register; we will inform you when the recording is available.

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. Christine Angelini, Center for Coastal Solution, Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, USA;
• Ms. Richa Dutt, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, USA;
• Dr. Daniele Pinton, Civil and Coastal Engineering, Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, USA;
• Dr. Ron Fick, Center for Coastal Solutions, Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida.

Relevant Topic Information:
“Advances in Earth Observation and Geosciences”
Topic Editors: Prof. Dr. Diego González-Aguilera and Prof. Dr. Pablo Rodríguez-Gonzálvez