During the last decades, enormous progress has been achieved in developing new concepts of data analysis and modeling in the framework of complex systems theory. Many of these developments have been triggered by concrete problems in various scientific disciplines. As a particular example, questions related to the detection of climate change and the prediction of natural hazards, which are of paramount importance for mankind, have emphasized the necessity of considering the Earth as a complex system and from a more and more holistic point of view.

This special issue summarizes recent methodological developments in the application of contemporary mathematical and physical concepts for understanding different components of the Earth system and their interactions, in terms of both (nonlinear) data analysis and modeling. Specific problems are originated in various fields of Earth Sciences. Contributions are mainly provided by participants of the 2nd International Conference on Data Analysis and Modeling in Earth Sciences (DAMES 2010), which was held in September 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal. The aforementioned papers are supplemented by invited submissions from selected authors working on topically related problems.