IN FOCUS: Publication Spotlight Series - IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE
By Joanne Van Voorhis
As we continue our series highlighting the publications that support communication within the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, we turn to a publication designed not primarily to report incremental research advances, but to help the community connect, interpret, synthesize, and apply them. The IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE (GRSM) occupies a unique place within the GRSS publication portfolio, serving as a forum for tutorials, reviews, applications, and broader perspectives that connect the many disciplines within geoscience and remote sensing. Its scope is clear, to “inform and educate readers via technical papers, provide information on international remote sensing activities and new satellite missions, publish contributions on education activities, industrial and university profiles, conference news, book reviews, and a calendar of important events.”
Since its launch in 2013, GRSM has done just this….providing readers with accessible, high-quality articles that explain complex topics, highlight emerging directions, and document the activities and evolution of the Society itself. In doing so, the magazine complements GRSS’s traditional research journals while serving a broader educational and community-building mission.
A Forum for Understanding, Education, and Community
By the early 2010s, geoscience and remote sensing had become increasingly expansive and interdisciplinary. Advances in satellite systems, airborne sensing platforms, data analytics, and computational methods were rapidly transforming the field. At the same time, researchers and practitioners were becoming more specialized, creating a growing need for publications that could bridge technical domains and provide broader context.
GRSS recognized that while its existing journals successfully captured new scientific and engineering advances, there was also a need for a publication focused on tutorials, synthesis, applications, and community engagement. The result was the launch of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine in 2013.
In the March inaugural issue, Editor Lorenzo Bruzzone outlined the charter for the new publication: “This is the first issue of the new IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE, which was approved by the IEEE Technical Activities Board in 2012. This is an important achievement for GRSS since it has never had a publication in the magazine format. The magazine will provide a new venue to publish high quality technical articles that by their very nature do not find a home in journals requiring scientific innovation but that provide relevant information to scientists, engineers, end-users, and students who interact in different ways with the geoscience and remote sensing disciplines.” ”The goal of the magazine is to publish tutorial and technical papers on geoscience and remote sensing topics, as well as papers that describe relevant projects based on and applications of topics addressed by our society. All tutorial and technical papers will undergo blind review by multiple reviewers,” he added.
The inaugural issue reflected this vision. One feature article provided a tutorial-style overview of synthetic aperture radar (SAR), including polarimetry, interferometry, and differential interferometry. Another introduced IMAGESEER (IMAGEs for Science, Education, Experimentation and Research), a database developed to help non-specialists search and explore NASA Earth and space imagery.
Editorial Leadership and Continuing Evolution
GRSM’s development has been guided by a succession of dedicated editors who have expanded and refined the magazine’s role within the Society. Founding Editor-in-Chief Lorenzo Bruzzone (2013-17) established the publication’s initial scope, while subsequent editors, including James Garrison (2018-22), Paolo Gamba (2023-24), and William Emery (2025-present) have continued to broaden the magazine’s impact while maintaining its emphasis on quality and accessibility. Over time, the publication has increasingly reflected the interdisciplinary nature of modern geoscience and remote sensing, incorporating perspectives on education, policy, operational applications, and emerging industry trends.
As with other GRSS publications, the magazine depends heavily on volunteer contributions from editors, reviewers, and authors across the global community. This collaborative structure helps ensure that the publication remains closely aligned with the interests and needs of Society members.
“I cannot express too deeply how grateful I am to the Editorial Board members and staff who work tirelessly to help create each issue,” says Editor-in-Chief William Emery (University of Colorado). “Each person not only brings their expertise to the table, but also their dedication, inquisitiveness, and ideas for improvement – all of which adds up to a better publication,” he says.
Expanded Schedule and Special Issues
GRSM is moving from quarterly publication to six issues per year beginning in 2026, with Special Issues (SIs) planned for alternate editions. Each SI is organized by a team of Guest Editors who define the theme, solicit submissions, promote the issue, and manage the peer review process for all contributed papers. Unlike the magazine’s regular tutorial and review articles, SI papers are original contributions centered on a common theme. Oversight of the SI program is provided by the Deputy Editor-in-Chief for Special Issues, Dr. Mario Parente (University of Massachusetts Amherst).
For example, the April 2026 issue focused on “Visual Models in Remote Sensing.” Topics included large-scale foundation models (general-purpose deep learning models trained on massive image datasets for adaptation to many tasks), GAIA (a geospatial AI framework for Earth observation built around vision-centric representation learning and downstream task adaptation), ChatEarthBench (a benchmarking system for evaluating vision-and-language and geospatial AI models in Earth observation), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for remote sensing (methods that combine visual or language models with external geospatial data sources to improve grounded interpretation), and data semantics for Earth observation (methods for structuring meaning in geospatial datasets to support more effective machine understanding of visual Earth imagery).
Upcoming Special Issue topics are available online. As an example, the December 2026 issue will focus on “AI for Hyperspectral Remote Sensing.” Hyperspectral imaging was listed as one of the “100 Radical Innovation Breakthroughs for the Future” by the European Union in 2019. The integrated imaging capability of space and spectrum makes hyperspectral remote sensing a cutting edge of research in global Earth observation.
Tutorial Value, Accessibility, and Relevance
Unlike traditional research journals that emphasize original scientific priority, GRSM focuses on tutorial value, synthesis, accessibility, and broad relevance. Articles are of course peer reviewed and authored by leading experts, but the objective is often to explain and contextualize developments rather than simply announce them. Topics frequently span sensing systems, machine learning, data fusion, environmental monitoring, urban sensing, disaster response, and climate applications. Rather than reporting narrowly scoped research results, many GRSM articles place technical developments in broader context, explaining how methods have evolved, what they enable in current applications, and what challenges remain. This synthesis-oriented approach helps readers navigate across subfields that are increasingly interconnected.
“This approach has made GRSM especially valuable for readers seeking to enter new technical areas or maintain awareness across a rapidly changing field,” explains Emery. “We have found that many articles serve as foundational references for students, early-career researchers, and experienced professionals expanding into adjacent disciplines….and we work hard to make sure each issue is dynamic and thought-provoking,” he adds.
Dedicated Columns and Community Communication
GRSM features a variety of recurring columns that provide timely news, perspectives, and community updates. Each column is managed by a dedicated Column Editor (CE), who is responsible for the content and editorial quality of the column. A Department Editor-in-Chief (DEiC) for Columns oversees the overall portfolio and works with the CEs to ensure a steady flow of concise, news-oriented contributions. Column articles are editorially reviewed but are not subject to external peer review. Current columns include regional coverage for Africa, South America, and China, as well as technical and programmatic columns on Big Data, Data and Software, Space Agencies, Education, Industry, GRSS Chapters, and Book Reviews.
GRSM also serves as a communications platform for the broader GRSS community. “The magazine regularly highlights Society activities, technical committees, regional chapters, educational initiatives, conferences, satellite missions, and industry developments,” explains Emery. “This blend of technical and community-focused content distinguishes GRSM within the IEEE publication ecosystem. The magazine not only explains emerging science and technology, but also documents the evolving priorities and activities of the geoscience and remote sensing community itself,” he adds.
Encouraging Submissions
GRSM accepts contributions from experts across academia, industry, and government who can provide authoritative overviews, reviews of established or emerging technical areas, or perspectives on applications, methods, and developments relevant to geoscience and remote sensing. “We have tried to make the submission process a simplified one,” Emery explains. We encourage anyone interested to visit (URL) to review upcoming topics, and explore the process – or reach out to me or to any of the Editorial Board for more details,” he encourages.
Authors interested in proposing special issues as guest editors are also encouraged to contact the GRSM Editor-in-Chief. Submissions are typically handled through an editorial and peer-review process managed by the Editor-in-Chief and associate editors, in which manuscripts are evaluated for technical accuracy, clarity, and relevance to the magazine’s scope. All review articles, tutorials, and special Issue submissions first require a White Paper to be submitted, which may lead to an invitation for a full article review. Paper submissions are handled through the GRSM Author Portal. GRSM is a hybrid journal, allowing either Traditional manuscript submission or Open Access (author-pays OA) manuscript submission.
Future Outlook
When asked to explain his vision for the future of GRSM, Editor-in-Chief William Emery says that he sees “the magazine expanding to 12 issues per year – probably in 2028. We have had an artificially high impact factor due to the low number of articles published, but we are now anticipating a higher number of citations for the many more articles that we are publishing.” He pointed out that GRSM is also publishing many more column articles than in the past. “I look forward to supporting GRSM in this period of growth,” he adds.
