CALL FOR PAPERS Journal of Terrestrial Observation Special issue on Geospatial Approaches to Land Systems Analysis in the Northern Great Plains Guest Editors: Soizik Laguette
The Northern Great Plains region is characterized by diversified land use, ranging from natural grasslands to agricultural land use, and a semi-arid climate marked by a short growing season and sever and variable weather conditions. These coupled attributes expose the region to climate change and global change impacts and there is a need to identify Earth observation strategies and techniques that develop and monitor proper land management to address today challenges while ensuring a sustainable future. The region encompasses all of North and South Dakota, and parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and Minnesota. Based on the level II Ecoregions of North America, the region is occupied by small areas of mixed wood plains and mixed woods in Minnesota, but is dominated by the temperate prairies and west-central semi-arid prairies. It also corresponds (within the USA) to Region 9 (Northern Plains) of the National Ecological Observatory Network designed to monitor long term ecosystem responses to climate change. To that end, remote sensing of processes, land use change and agriculture, enhanced by other geospatial tools (GIS, spatial modeling, spatial statistics) are key elements to address challenging regional issues such as: the impact of the Conservation Reserve Program, carbon sequestration and trading, food production, conservation, biodiversity, and hunting, sustainable agriculture and range management, climate change impacts, and global change impacts and energy supply. The Journal of Terrestrial Observation (http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jto/) invites authors from the region to contribute to a Special Issue on Geospatial Approaches to Land Systems Analysis in the Northern Great Plains. This issue will focus on remote sensing technologies (applications), and/or other spatial technologies/tools (GIS analysis, spatial modeling, spatio-temporal analysis, etc) that describe processes, changes, dynamics and interactions between natural and human elements of the land system in this region. Authors should contact the editor and submit a title and brief description of a proposed submission to make sure that it fits the remit of the special issue preferably by September 1st, 2008. Authors are encouraged to discuss potential submissions with the editor. Papers that do not fit the remit will be rejected without review. Full manuscripts are to be submitted by December 1, 2008 through the standard submission process of Journal of Terrestrial Observation (http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jto/). Papers should be 7,000 to 8,000 words + figures and follow the journal style guide. Manuscripts will be sent to two independent reviewers. Authors must provide the names, addresses and email contacts for potential reviewers. Please dont hesitate to contact the editor for further information: Soizik Laguette, Ph.D. Department of Earth System Science and Policy University of North Dakota 4149 University Ave, Stop 9011 Grand Forks, ND 58201-9011 USA Phone: + 1 701 777 2532 Fax: + 1 701 777 2940 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
