Call for papers on climate risk and vulnerability mapping

August 15, 2019

Dear Colleagues,

Measuring, analyzing, and mapping the societal risks and vulnerabilities of climate change has become part of the standard toolkit of climate risk and vulnerability assessments. This Special Issue focuses on the spatial assessment of climate risks and related vulnerabilities and the use of spatial data and analysis in field-based assessments. The papers should apply good practices in climate vulnerability mapping described in this recent WIRES Climate Change article.

Papers may cover a range of spatial scales–from local to global–and represent any world region, and may be produced by authors from any discipline. The deadline for submission is 30 November 2019.

Papers must:

  • Define the problem space–that is, the system of analysis (what is vulnerable or at risk?), the valued attributes of concern (why are they important?), the external hazard (to what is the system vulnerable and exposed?), and a temporal reference (when?)–and the purpose of the assessment;
  • Describe the analytical framework applied;
  • Provide adequate detail regarding the data and methods used;
  • Address the uncertainty in underlying data and methods;
  • Present one or more maps portraying results;
  • Address the policy relevance of the mapping/spatial analysis.

Case studies and mapping projects are especially encouraged that:

- were developed in conjunction with stakeholders (i.e., transdisciplinary science) and/or where mapping results were applied in planning and decision-making contexts;
- utilize statistical techniques/novel methods to identify the drivers of risk and vulnerability;
- use future scenarios for climate and/or socioeconomic systems;
- integrate various streams of data (ranging from survey data and official statistics to Earth observation data);
- seek to validate mapping results.

In addition to case study or location-specific applications, we invite papers that explore spatial methods as well as papers critically reflecting on climate risk and vulnerability mapping. 

For further information or to submit a manuscript, please visit: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Climate_Risk_Mapping

Dr. Alexander de Sherbinin, CIESIN, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Dr. Stefan Kienberger, Z_GIS University of Salzburg
Guest Editors