TITLE:
Soil Salinity Mapping and Monitoring in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions Using Remote Sensing Technology: A Review
AUTHORS:
Amal Allbed, Lalit Kumar
KEYWORDS:
Soil Salinity; Remote Sensing; Halophytic Plant; Salinity Index
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Remote Sensing,
Vol.2 No.4,
December
26,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Soil salinity is a serious environmental problem especially in arid
and semiarid areas. It either occurs naturally or is human-induced. High levels
of soil salinity negatively affect crop growth and productivity leading land
degradation ultimately. Thus, it is important to monitor and map soil salinity
at an early stage to enact effective soil reclamation program that helps lessen
or prevent future increase in soil salinity. Remote sensing has outperformed
the traditional method for assessing soil salinity offering more informative
and professional rapid assessment techniques for monitoring and mapping soil
salinity. Soil salinity
can be identified from remote sensing data obtained by different sensors by way
of direct indicators that refer to salt features that are visible at the soil
surface as well as indirect indicators such as the presence of halophytic plant
and assessing the performance level of salt-tolerant crops. The purposes of this paper are to 1) discuss some soil salinity indicators;
2) review the satellite sensors and methods used for remote monitoring, detecting
and mapping of soil salinity, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions; 3)
review various spectral
vegetation and salinity indices that have been developed and proposed for soil
salinity detection and mapping, with an emphasis on soil salinity
mapping and assessment in arid and semi-arid regions;
and 4) highlight the most important issues limiting the use of remote sensing
for soil salinity mapping, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions.