Multi-sensor and Multi-band Remote Sensing Approaches for Earth System and Environmental Analysis

Earth observation has entered a new era of technological sophistication, driven by advances in remote sensing platforms and the increasing availability of diverse multi-band observations from satellites, airborne systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and in situ sensors. These innovations have dramatically expanded our ability to monitor terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric processes across multiple spatial, temporal, and spectral scales. High-resolution multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, LiDAR, SAR, and microwave observations now provide complementary information for assessing vegetation dynamics, soil properties, water resources, ecosystem functioning, and land–atmosphere interactions. However, despite these advances, integrating information across multiple sensors and spectral domains remains a significant scientific challenge. Differences in sensor characteristics, spectral response functions, spatial resolution, acquisition geometry, calibration procedures, and observation conditions introduce uncertainties that can limit the consistency, comparability, and reliability of Earth observation products.Recent research has highlighted the importance of cross-sensor harmonization, radiometric consistency, physically based retrieval methods, and the integration of complementary spectral information to improve environmental monitoring. Nevertheless, unified frameworks capable of combining multi-sensor and multi-band observations while preserving their physical interpretation are still limited. Addressing these challenges is essential for producing reliable, scalable, and transferable Earth observation products suitable for scientific research and operational environmental applications.This Research Topic aims to advance physically grounded, interpretable, and consistent approaches for integrating multi-sensor and multi-band remote sensing observations in Earth system and environmental analysis. We particularly encourage contributions that combine complementary observations from multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, SAR, LiDAR, UAV, airborne, and satellite platforms to improve environmental monitoring, parameter retrieval, and ecosystem assessment. Key research questions include how complementary spectral information can be effectively integrated across sensors and scales, how uncertainties arising from calibration and sensor heterogeneity can be minimized, and how physically based retrieval algorithms can better relate remotely sensed observations to environmental variables such as vegetation characteristics, soil properties, hydrological processes, and ecosystem dynamics.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses methodological developments, sensor integration strategies, and application studies that emphasize physical interpretability, uncertainty assessment, and scientifically robust Earth observation rather than purely data-driven or black-box computational approaches. Contributions integrating multiple sensor types or spectral domains to address environmental challenges are particularly encouraged.To gather further insights into this rapidly evolving field, we welcome submissions including, but not limited to, the following topics:• Multi-sensor and multi-band data fusion for Earth observation• Radiometric and geometric calibration, validation, and cross-sensor intercomparison• Harmonization of multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, SAR, LiDAR, and microwave observations• Spectral analysis, spectral unmixing, and physically based feature extraction• Retrieval of vegetation, soil, water, cryosphere, and atmospheric parameters• Integration of UAV, airborne, satellite, and in situ observations across spatial and temporal scales• Uncertainty quantification, benchmarking, and validation using reference datasets• Advances in next-generation Earth observation sensors and observation strategies• Applications of multi-sensor remote sensing for agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, hydrology, climate, disaster monitoring, and ecosystem assessmentArticle types accepted include Original Research, Review, Perspective, Methods, and Data Report articles. Topic editors: Prakash Kumar Jha, Prachi Singh, Sumanta Chatterjee, Matteo Del Soldato, Bhagyashree Verma Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80590/multi-sensor-and-multi-band-remote-sensing-approaches-for-earth-system-and-environmental-analysis