Challenges and Opportunities in Remote Sensing for Soil Salinization Mapping and Monitoring: A Review

Abstract

Meeting current needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs is the only path toward achieving environmental sustainability. As the most valuable natural resource, soil faces global, regional, and local challenges, from quality degradation to mass losses brought on by salinization. These issues affect agricultural productivity and ecological balance, undermining sustainability and food security. Therefore, timely monitoring and accurate mapping of salinization processes are crucial, especially in semi-arid and arid regions where climate variability impacts have already reached alarming levels. Salt-affected soil mapping has enormous potential thanks to recent progress in remote sensing. This paper comprehensively reviews the potential of remote sensing to assess soil salinization. The review demonstrates that large-scale soil salinity estimation based on remote sensing tools remains a significant challenge, primarily due to data resolution and acquisition costs. Fundamental trade-offs constrain practical remote sensing applications in salinization mapping between data resolution, spatial and temporal coverage, acquisition costs, and high accuracy expectations. This article provides an overview of research work related to soil salinization mapping and monitoring using remote sensing. By synthesizing recent research and highlighting areas where further investigation is needed, this review helps to steer future efforts, provides insight for decision-making on environmental sustainability and soil resource management, and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration.