Abstract
Soil salinity is a major threat to land productivity, water resources and agriculture in coastal areas and arid and semi-arid regions of the world. This has a significantly negative effect on the land and causes desertification. Monitoring salt accumulation in the soil is crucial for the prevention of land degradation in such environments. This study attempted to estimate and map soil salinity in Jaffna Peninsula, a semi-arid region of Sri Lanka. A Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) model was constructed using Sentinel 2A satellite imagery and field-measured soil electrical conductivity (EC) values. The results showed that satisfactory prediction of the soil salinity could be made based on the PLSR model coupled with Sentinel 2A satellite imagery (R2 = 0.69, RMSE = 0.4830). Overall, 32.8% of the land and 45% of paddy lands in Jaffna Peninsula are affected by salt. The findings of this study indicate that PLSR is suitable for the soil salinity mapping, especially in semi-arid regions like Jaffna Peninsula. The results underpin the importance of building adaptive capacity and implementing suitable preventive strategies for sustainable land and agricultural management.
Highlights
Soil salinization is one of the world’s most significant environmental soil hazards, which results in severe land degradation and desertification
The results reveal that, contrary to similar studies, spectral bands of the Sentinel 2A satellite imagery and derived salinity indices showed relatively poor correlation with electrical conductivity (EC) values, which could be due to the larger study area
Satisfactory results were achieved based on the Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) model (R2 = 0.69)
Summary
Soil salinization is one of the world’s most significant environmental soil hazards, which results in severe land degradation and desertification. This is caused by both natural and anthropogenic activities [1,2]. It is estimated that 20% of total cultivated and 33% of irrigated agricultural areas in the world have been affected by high salinity, and by 2050, more than 50% of arable lands are expected to be salinized [7]. High concentrations of salt in agricultural soil or irrigation water affect almost all stages of the crop life cycle: from germination, to the uptake of water and necessary nutrients, thereby reducing plant growth and significantly reducing crop yields. Soil salinity imposes ion toxicity, osmotic fragility and oxidative stress on crops, thereby limiting the water absorption [8]
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