Remote Sensing Applications in Marine Ecology Monitoring and Target Sensing

The vastness and dynamic nature of the marine environment pose distinct challenges for ecological monitoring and the detection of small, dim targets such as marine mammals, illegal fishing vessels, or plastic debris. These targets are often difficult to monitor due to their size, mobility, and the vast areas over which they are distributed. Advances in remote sensing technologies, including satellite imaging, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and sophisticated sensor systems like LiDAR, infrared, and hyperspectral imaging have dramatically enhanced our capability to observe and understand marine ecosystems from space and air. These technologies are crucial in bridging the gap between traditional marine monitoring methods that often fail to adequately capture the temporal and spatial scales of marine processes. This research topic seeks to showcase cutting-edge research that leverages satellite-based and UAV-based remote sensing for marine ecological monitoring and the detailed detection, tracking, and identification of these marine targets.

We invite submissions that explore innovative remote sensing techniques, data analysis methods, and applications in marine science. Contributions may address the following topics (but not limited to):

• Maritime target detection, segmentation, identification, and tracking
• Application of remote sensing in the study of marine habitats and biodiversity
• Innovative methodologies for detecting changes in marine ecosystems
• Development of algorithms and computational tools for the analysis of remote sensing data in marine science
• Impact assessments of marine ecological changes using satellite data
• Infrared and visible image fusion
• Underwater image enhancement
• Application of remote sensing in the study of coastal zone sustainability

Keywords: marine ecology, remote sensing, target detection, image fusion and enhancement, satellite monitoring, machine learning

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.