Predictive Mapping of Electrical Conductivity and Assessment of Soil Salinity in a Western Türkiye Alluvial Plain

Fuat Kaya, Calogero Schillaci (), Ali Keshavarzi and Levent Başayiğit
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Fuat Kaya: Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Isparta 32260, Türkiye
Calogero Schillaci: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Via E. Fermi, 2749, 21027 Ispra, VA, Italy
Ali Keshavarzi: Laboratory of Remote Sensing and GIS, Department of Soil Science, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 4111, Karaj 31587-77871, Iran
Levent Başayiğit: Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Isparta 32260, Türkiye

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: The increase in soil salinity due to human-induced processes poses a severe threat to agriculture on a regional and global scale. Soil salinization caused by natural and anthropogenic factors is a vital environmental hazard, specifically in semi-arid and arid regions of the world. The detection and monitoring of salinity are critical to the sustainability of soil management. The current study compared the performance of machine learning models to produce spatial maps of electrical conductivity (EC) (as a proxy for salinity) in an alluvial irrigation plain. The current study area is located in the Isparta province (100 km 2 ), land cover is mainly irrigated, and the dominant soils are Inceptisols, Mollisols, and Vertisols. Digital soil mapping (DSM) methodology was used, referring to the increase in the digital representation of soil formation factors with today’s technological advances. Plant and soil-based indices produced from the Sentinel 2A satellite image, topographic indices derived from the digital elevation model (DEM), and CORINE land cover classes were used as predictors. The support vector regression (SVR) algorithm revealed the best relationships in the study area. Considering the estimates of different algorithms, according to the FAO salinity classification, a minimum of 12.36% and a maximum of 20.19% of the study area can be classified as slightly saline. The low spatial dependence between model residuals limited the success of hybrid methods. The land irrigated cover played a significant role in predicting the current level of EC.

Keywords: soil salinization; digital soil mapping; CORINE; human-induced salinization; irrigation-associated salinity; agricultural regions; sentinel 2 MSI; environmental covariates; remote sensing; Mediterranean region (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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