Changes in status of soil salinity in North Crimea since 2013, as detected by Landsat 8 OLI data

Igor Savin,Elena Prudnikova

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202126503001

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the changes in salinity of arable soils in the north of Crimea peninsula from 2013 to 2019 using Landsat 8 OLI satellite data in order to obtain additional and objective information about the modern state of soil secondary salinization processes. Comparison of the satellite data of 2013 and 2019 showed that in the area of the North-Crimean Canal there is both a slight expansion of the areas of saline soils and their reduction. The expansion of areas is observed mainly in the coastal zones of lakes and estuaries, and the reduction of areas in the fields, irrigation of which in the analyzed period did not stop. Both expansion and reduction of areas with saline soils did not exceed 10% of the study area. There is no evidence that the expansion of areas of saline soils during the analyzed period was due to the cessation of water supply to the North-Crimean canal.

Highlights

Salinity is one of the most significant properties of soils that limit their use in agriculture
Saline soils are confined to sediments containing soluble salts
About 2.4% of the pixels were assigned to the "slight increase" class and 5.3% to the "strong increase" class of soil salinity

Summary

Introduction

Salinity is one of the most significant properties of soils that limit their use in agriculture. According to FAO, soil salinity currently accounts for about 18-43 % of the world's food shortages [1]. Saline soils occupy about 1 billion hectares of agricultural land worldwide [2]. The presence of saline soils in the soil cover is due to both natural causes and anthropogenic activities. Saline soils are confined to sediments containing soluble salts (ancient marine sediments of various ages). The manifestation of soil salinization is caused by climatic conditions. With large amounts of precipitation, soluble salts, as a rule, are quickly washed out of the root layer of soil and have no effect on plant growth. Saline soils can be caused by the high level of saline groundwater [1]

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