Assessment and Mapping of Soil and Water Salinity Under Different Land Use Systems in Arid Environment
摘要
Soil and water salinity are becoming threat factors to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in Saudi Arabia. This situation entails the need for practical efforts to monitor and assess soil and water salinity levels continuously. Considering this situation, a study was initiated to map and assess the soil and irrigation water salinity in Al-Ahsa Oasis, Saudi Arabia. Initially, Landsat-8 data from the year 2016 were obtained to identify the main land use and land cover (LULC) types in the study area. The supervised maximum likelihood classification method was applied to classify the Landsat-8 image. Consequently, five LULC types were identified: date palm, croplands, bare land, urban land, and water. Soil samples were collected from the date palm, cropland, and bare land LULC types at 0–20 cm soil depth. Also, groundwater samples were collected from bore wells in agricultural farms in the study area. The mapping and spatial distribution of the soil salinity (ECe) and irrigation water salinity (ECiw) were classified based on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) guidelines using the geostatistics analyst of the ArcGIS software. The results showed that the LULC of the study area was mainly covered by 53% bare lands, 37% date palm and 6% croplands. The ECe map pattern was higher in date palms compared with cropland and bare land. However, the spatial distribution map of the ECiw over the oasis indicated that 94% of the irrigation water ranged between moderate and severe salinity risk. The results reflected the importance of developing salinity management practices in the study area. These practices will ensure the proper sustainability of crop yields, improvement of soil properties, and the minimization of the environmental impacts of LULC changes on the ecosystem of Al-Ahsa Oasis.