The interaction between land water cycles and ecosystems is under unprecedented pressure in the context of global change. Climate change (e.g., warming, shifting precipitation patterns) and intensive human activities (e.g., land use change, water resources management) are profoundly altering the spatiotemporal distribution of water resources and the structure and function of ecosystems. Accurately assessing these changes and their driving mechanisms is crucial for understanding Earth system coupling processes and achieving sustainable water resource management and ecosystem conservation. Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies, with their capabilities for large-scale, multi-scale, dynamic monitoring and spatial analysis, have become indispensable tools for quantifying key variables and revealing their changing patterns.

This Research Topic aims to gather the latest research utilizing advanced remote sensing and GIS technologies (including but not limited to optical, radar, LiDAR, spatial analysis, and multi-source data fusion) to deepen the understanding of the processes governing changes in land water cycles (e.g., evapotranspiration, soil moisture, groundwater, snow/ice dynamics) and ecosystems (e.g., productivity, phenology, vegetation structure, biodiversity) under the dual pressures of climate change and human activities. Specific goals include: 1) Integrating multi-source remote sensing data with GIS-based models and spatial analytics to innovate monitoring and assessment methodologies; 2) Quantitatively disentangling the relative contributions and interactive effects of climate change and human activities on water-ecosystem dynamics; 3) Assessing the impacts of these changes on regional to global water security, carbon cycles, and ecosystem services; and 4) Providing a scientific basis for formulating adaptive and sustainable resource management strategies.

We welcome submissions of Original Research, Review, and Methodology articles. Specific themes include, but are not limited to:

• Novel algorithms for remote sensing retrieval and validation of products for key hydrological and ecological variables.

• Monitoring and trend analysis of water cycle and ecosystem dynamics using multi-temporal remote sensing data combined with GIS analysis.

• GIS and remote sensing-based identification of human activity footprints (e.g., urbanization, irrigation, afforestation/deforestation) and assessment of their hydrological and ecological effects.

• Mechanism analysis and prediction through the coupling of remote sensing with GIS-driven or spatially explicit process-based models (e.g., hydrological models, ecological models).

• Integrated remote sensing and GIS assessment of the impacts of extreme climate events (droughts, floods, heatwaves) on water-ecosystems and studies of resilience/recovery.

• Case studies of remote sensing and GIS applications towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to water management and ecosystem conservation.

We encourage submissions that focus on various spatial and temporal scales, especially from regional to global perspectives, and that explicitly distinguish or integrate the driving roles of climate change and human activities through robust spatial analytical frameworks.

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Remote Sensing and GIS Technologies for Assessing Land Water Cycles and Ecosystem Changes Under Climate Change and Human Activities