GIScience & Remote Sensing

Active and Passive Remote Sensing of Aerosols, Clouds and Precipitation: Optical, Microphysical and Geometrical Properties

Aerosols, clouds and precipitation are tightly coupled components of the Earth system. They control the radiative balance of the atmosphere, regulate the hydrological cycle and affect air quality, weather and climate. Their impact depends on optical properties such as extinction, absorption and depolarization, on microphysical properties such as particle size, shape, phase and number concentration, and on geometrical properties such as layer height, thickness and vertical distribution. Remote sensing is the only way to observe these properties continuously and over large areas. Active sensors, including lidar and radar, resolve the vertical structure of the atmosphere, while passive sensors, including radiometers, photometers, spectrometers and polarimeters, provide column and spectral information with wide spatial coverage. Together, ground, airborne and satellite observations now offer an unprecedented view of these processes.

Aerosols, clouds and precipitation are tightly coupled components of the Earth system. They control the radiative balance of the atmosphere, regulate the hydrological cycle and affect air quality, weather and climate. Their impact depends on optical properties such as extinction, absorption and depolarization, on microphysical properties such as particle size, shape, phase and number concentration, and on geometrical properties such as layer height, thickness and vertical distribution. Remote sensing is the only way to observe these properties continuously and over large areas. Active sensors, including lidar and radar, resolve the vertical structure of the atmosphere, while passive sensors, including radiometers, photometers, spectrometers and polarimeters, provide column and spectral information with wide spatial coverage. Together, ground, airborne and satellite observations now offer an unprecedented view of these processes.

This Article Collection welcomes contributions on active and passive remote sensing of the atmosphere from ground based, airborne and spaceborne platforms. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Lidar, radar and radiometer techniques and instrument development
• Retrieval of optical, microphysical and geometrical properties of aerosols, clouds and precipitation
• Aerosol typing and cloud phase classification
• Synergy of active and passive sensors and multisensor data fusion
• Calibration, validation and uncertainty assessment of satellite missions
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence for atmospheric retrievals
• Aerosol cloud precipitation interactions
• Radiative effects of aerosols and clouds
• Planetary boundary layer characterization
• Long-term observations, trends and extreme events such as dust outbreaks, wildfire smoke, volcanic plumes and severe precipitation

Article Collection Guest Advisor

Simone Lolli is a senior scientist at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and an adjunct professor of remote sensing at the University of Florence. He received his PhD in Physics from the École Polytechnique, France, and is permanent member of the scientific committee of the NASA Micro Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET). His research focuses on ground-based and spaceborne remote sensing of aerosols, clouds and precipitation and their effects on climate, air quality and the Earth's energy budget. He has authored more than 130 publications and serves as Executive Editor of Atmospheric Measurement Techniques and as Associate Editor of GIScience & Remote Sensing.

Further Information

­­All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 15 July 2027.

Please contact Alex Johnson at alex.johnson@tandf.co.uk for more information about this Collection or to enquire about discount codes.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.