Dear Colleagues,

The hydro-geo-climatic hazards emerging from the climate change our planet is experiencing have raised great concerns about managing the global carbon cycle, mainly with regard to the reduction in and control of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, CO₂. The carbon cycle is based on CO₂, most often found in gaseous form in the atmosphere, but also in dissolved form in water. Furthermore, terrestrial plants use the CO₂ from the atmosphere to generate oxygen that sustains animal life. Plant and animal life, in turn, is supported by the land surface which plays a central role in the global carbon cycle but is the least well-known and understood component of the cycle.

In the last two decades, scientists focused their efforts on understanding the reasons for atmosphere–land carbon fluxes in times of changing climate. This research resulted in a number of biospheric models which integrate knowledge and measured data. However, this approach revealed that the carbon cycle models require data input at various scales. Additionally, these models rely on data on carbon processes and pools which are very difficult to sense and quantify and often involve satellite sensors. Due to these difficulties, there is an urgent need for new tools for terrestrial carbon cycle and land surface modelling.

The aim of this Special Issue is to showcase state-of-the-art, bleeding-edge research which focuses on novel approaches towards modelling of the carbon cycle in relation to the land surface. Soils, and the land surface in general, are a very important but not very well understood part of the terrestrial carbon cycle which deserve special attention in the host journal which covers land use/land change, land management, land system science, landscape, soil–sediment–water systems, urban contexts and urban–rural interactions, and land–climate interactions.

We are looking to publish reviews, regular research papers, communications, and short notes covering a broad range of topics connected to terrestrial carbon cycle and land surface modelling. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Carbon flux between the atmosphere and plants, plants and animals, animals and soils, and biosphere and atmosphere, and from fossil fuels to the atmosphere, and the atmosphere to oceans (water);
• The interaction of CO₂ and climate;
• The terrestrial carbon cycle and the role of the terrestrial biosphere, focusing on, but not limited to, pools, fluxes, and processes;
• Sensing and measurement of land–atmosphere carbon fluxes;
• Modelling of the terrestrial biosphere;
• Monitoring and modelling of sources and sinks of greenhouse gases;
• Spatial sampling technology and applications in land surface modelling;
• Predicting and measuring the response of vegetation to atmospheric changes;
• Use of geographical information systems (GIS) in land surface modelling;
• Implications of the terrestrial carbon cycle on public health.

Prof. Dr. Slobodan B. Mickovski
Dr. Alejandro Gonzalez-Ollauri
Dr. Caroline E. Gallagher
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• climate change
• greenhouse gases
• carbon flux
• land surface modelling
• resilience
• sustainability
• geographical information systems
• environmental management
• public health
• vegetation
• atmosphere
• monitoring
• remote sensing