Drought, understood as an atmospheric and hydrological phenomenon, is primarily characterized by a prolonged lack of sufficient rainfall, leading to soil water deficiency and disruptions in water management. It is a natural phenomenon that can have various ecological, social, and economic causes and effects. Twenty-first-century droughts are more frequent and characterized by higher temperatures, longer durations, and greater spatial extents, which, combined with increased water demand, make them more severe than ever before. While drought occurrence cannot be prevented, understanding the mechanisms of its formation and determining conditions conducive to its spread can help mitigate its effects. Effective water resource management benefits communities and governments, otherwise, it leads to serious global consequences. Proper water resource management requires thorough assessment and prediction using cutting-edge and effective techniques. Therefore, this special issue offers researchers the opportunity to share their achievements in the following topics using remote sensing and machine learning.

We are pleased to announce the special issue "Advance in drought assessment and prediction" aimed at acquainting with the latest advancements in studying the drought process regarding methodologies, technologies, and applications.

The Special Issue offers the opportunity for researchers to share their advances in various topics of water resources management such as:

(1) advance of watershed management modelling for drought assessment and forecasting;

(2) contributions of climate change versus human activities to droughts;

(3) quantitative analysis of droughts;

(4) the impact of climatic changes on water resources management;

(5) development of innovative techniques for integrating machine learning with satellite-based remote sensing data to enhance drought monitoring and forecasting;

(6) adaptative and mitigative strategies to droughts;

(7) models, algorithms, and decision-support tools for assessing or predicting the severity and risk of droughts;

(8) integration of hydrological, meteorological, socioeconomic, and ecological data for comprehensive drought risk assessment;

(9) assessment of drought impacts on water resources, agriculture, ecosystems, and society.