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Potential to map soil salinity using inversion modelling of EM38 sensor data

2019; Wiley; Volume: 37; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3997/1365-2397.2019019

1365-2397

Maria Catarina Paz, Mohammad Farzamian, Fernando A. Monteiro Santos, M. C. Gonçalves, Ana Marta Paz, Nádia Castanheira, John Triantafilis,

Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing

Soil salinization limits agricultural productivity and can ultimately cause desertification and land abandonment. Traditionally soil salinity is assessed using soil sampling methods for laboratory determinations. These are not representative of soil properties at management scales and are highly time and work consuming, resulting in costly surveys. Recent research is revolutionizing how soil information can be obtained quickly and cheaply by using a state-of-the-art electromagnetic (EM) instrument and inversion techniques in conjunction with soil sampling results to generate high-resolution effective conductivity models and soil salinity maps. In this study, located in Leziria Grande, Portugal, an EM survey was performed at an experimental site to map the spatial variability of soil salinity. EM data were collected using an EM38 instrument deployed at different heights and orientations. The conductivity model obtained from joint inversion of EM data shows a high correlation with conductivity data from soil sampling. This has permitted the rapid development of a model of soil salinity.