Mapping the world's salted soils: A leap forward in combating land degradation

A team of researchers has developed an approach that maps the soil salt content around the world with an exceptional detail of 10 meters. This advance tackles the pressing need for accurate assessments of soil salinity, a formidable challenge that jeopardizes agricultural productivity and soil vitality on a global scale.

Soil salinity, a form of land degradation, affects over 1 billion hectares globally, compromising agricultural productivity and environmental health. Previous attempts at mapping soil salinity were hindered by the coarse spatial resolution of existing datasets and limitations in capturing the continuity of soil salinity content.

Recognizing these challenges, the research team embarked on developing a model that integrates Sentinel-1/2 images, climate data, terrain information, and advanced machine learning algorithms to estimate soil salt content across five climate regions. These findings were detailed in a study published on March 28, 2024, in Journal of Remote Sensing. This research introduces a device that skillfully integrates slanted spiral channels with periodic contraction-expansion arrays.