Developing a Soil Salinity Model from Landsat 8 Satellite Bands Based on Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms

Abstract

AbstractSoil salinity is a significant challenge in numerous regions across the globe, including Egypt. The potential consequences encompass negative impacts on crop yield, human well-being, and eco-logical systems. The utilization of remote sensing and machine learning techniques is increasingly becoming recognized as cost-effective methodologies for the cartographic representation of soil salinity. The present work employed Landsat 8 satellite imaging data and sophisticated machine learning techniques to delineate and assess soil salinity levels in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. In this work, several machine learning techniques were employed to forecast the salinity values of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the designated geographical region. These algorithms encompassed support vector machines (SVM), regression trees, Gaussian linear regression, and tree-based ensemble in addition to linear regression analysis. A variety of instances were generated to develop an optimal model that accurately characterizes the salinity TDS values within the study area. This was achieved by utilizing the band values extracted from the Landsat 8 satellite imagery. The approach that demonstrated the highest performance was observed when employing the Blue, Red, and shortwave infrared bands in conjunction with the SVM-Quadratic SVM model. This particular configuration yielded an R2 value of 0.86 and an RMSE value of 175.98. The findings of this work demonstrate the feasibility of precisely mapping soil salinity through the utilization of Landsat 8 satellite imaging data and machine learning techniques. The provided data can be utilized to identify regions characterized by elevated levels of soil salinity, as well as for the formulation of effective approaches aimed at addressing this issue.