Experimental investigation into the salinity effect on the physicomechanical properties of carbonate saline soil

For engineering structures with saline soil as a filling material,such as channel slope,road subgrade,etc.,the rich soluble salt in the soil is an important potential factor affecting their safety performance.This study examines the Atterberg limits,shear strength,and compressibility of carbonate saline soil samples with different NaHCO3 contents in Northeast China.The mechanism underlying the influence of salt content on soil macroscopic properties was investigated based on a volumetric flask test,a mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)test,and a scanning electron microscopic(SEM)test.The results demonstrated that when NaHCO3 contents were lower than the threshold value of 1.5%,the bound water film adsorbed on the surface of clay particles thickened continuously,and correspondingly,the Atterberg limits and plasticity index increased rapidly as the increase of sodium ion content.Meanwhile,the bonding force between particles was weakened,the dispersion of large aggregates was enhanced,and the soil structure became looser.Macroscopically,the compressibility increased and the shear strength(mainly cohesion)decreased by 28.64%.However,when the NaHCO3 content exceeded the threshold value of 1.5%,the salt gradually approached solubility and filled the pores between particles in the form of crystals,resulting in a decrease in soil porosity.The cementation effect generated by salt crystals increased the bonding force between soil particles,leading to a decrease in plasticity index and an improvement in soil mechanical properties.Moreover,this work provides valuable suggestions and theoretical guidance for the scientific utilization of carbonate saline soil in backfill engineering projects.

Effects of water application intensity of micro-sprinkler irrigation and soil salinity on environment of coastal saline soils

To achieve the greatest leaching efficiency,water movement must occur under unsaturated flow conditions.Accordingly,the water application intensity of irrigation must be chosen carefully.The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the water application intensity of micro-sprinkler irrigation on coastal saline soil with different salt contents.To achieve this objective,a laboratory experiment was conducted with three soil salinity treatments(2.26,10.13,and 22.29 dS/m)and three water application intensity treatments(3.05,5.19,and 7.23 mm/h).The results showed that the effect of soil salinity on soil water content,electrical conductivity,and pH was significant,and the effect of the water application intensity was insignificant.High soil water content was present in the 40e60 cm profile in all soil salinity treatments,and the content was higher in the medium and high water application intensity treatments than in the low-intensity treatment.Significant salt leaching occurred in all treatments,and the effect was stronger in the high soil salinity treatment and medium water application intensity treatment.In the medium and high soil salinity treatments,pH exhibited a decreasing trend,with no trend change in the low soil salinity treatment,and the pH value was higher in the medium water application intensity treatment than in the other two treatments.These results indicated that the three intensities evaluated had no statistically different effect on the electrical conductivity of saturated soil-paste extracts(EC)in the upper 20 cm of the soil profile,and it would be better to maintain a lower value of the water application intensity.

Effects of Groundwater with Various Salinities on Evaporation and Redistribution of Water and Salt in Saline-sodic Soils in Songnen Plain,Northeast China

Groundwater mineralization is one of the main factors affecting the transport of soil water and salt in saline-sodic areas.To investigate the effects of groundwater with different levels of salinity on evaporation and distributions of soil water and salt in Songnen Plain,Northeast China,five levels of groundwater sodium adsorption ration of water(SARw)and total salt content(TSC mmol/L)were conducted in an oil column lysimeters.The five treated groundwater labeled as ST0:0,ST0:10,ST5:40,ST10:70 and ST20:100,were prepared with NaCl and CaCl2 in proportion,respectively.The results showed the groundwater evaporation(GWE)and soil evaporation(SE)increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of groundwater salinity.The values of GWE and SE in ST10:70 treatment were the highest,which were 2.09 and 1.84 times the values in the ST0:0 treatment with the lowest GWE and SE.There was a positive linear correlation between GWE and the Ca^(2+)content in groundwater,with R^(2)=0.998.The soil water content(SWC)of ST0:0 treatment was significantly(P<0.05)less than those of other treatments during the test.The SWC of the ST0:0 and ST0:10 treatments increased with the increase of soil depth,while the other treatments showed the opposite trend.Statistical analysis indicated the SWC in the 0–60 cm soil layer was positively correlated with the groundwater TSC and its ion contents during the test.Salt accumulation occurred in the topsoil and the salt accumulation in the 0–20 cm soil layer was significantly(P<0.05)greater than that in the subsoil.This study revealed the effects of the salinity level of groundwater,especially the Ca^(2+)content and TSC of groundwater,on the GWE and distributions of soil water and salt,which provided important support for the prevention and reclamation of soil salinization and sodificaton in shallow groundwater regions.

Approach of water-salt regulation using micro-sprinkler irrigation in two coastal saline soils

This study aimed to investigate whether saline silt and sandy loam coastal soils could be reclaimed by micro-sprinkler irrigation.The experiments were run using moderately salt-tolerant tall fescue grass.Micro-sprinkler irrigation in three stages was used to regulate soil matric potential at a 20-cm soil depth.Continued regulation of soil water and salt through micro-sprinkler irrigation consistently resulted in an increasingly large low-salinity region.The application of the three stages of soil wateresalt regulation resulted in an absence of salt accumulation throughout the soil profile and the conversion of highly saline soils into moderately saline soils.There were increases in the plant height,leaf width,leaf length,and tiller numbers of tall fescue throughout the leaching process.The results showed that micro-sprinkler irrigation in three soil water and salt regulation stages can be used to successfully cultivate tall festuca in highly saline coastal soil.This approach achieved better effects in sandy loam soil than in silt soil.Tall fescue showed greater survival rates in sandy loam soil due to the rapid reclamation process,whereas plant growth was higher in silt soil because of effective water conservation.In sandy loam,soil moisture should be maintained during soil reclamation,and in silt soil,soil root-zone environments optimal for the emergence of plants should be quickly established.Micro-sprinkler irrigation can be successfully applied to the cultivation of tall fescue in coastal heavy saline soils under a three-stage soil wateresalt regulation regime.

Leaching Fraction (LF) of Irrigation Water for Saline Soils Using Machine Learning

Soil salinity is a serious land degradation issue in agriculture.It is a major threat to agriculture productivity.Extra irrigation water is applied to leach down the salts from the root zone of the plants in the form of a Leaching fraction(LF)of irrigation water.For the leaching process to be effective,the LF of irriga-tion water needs to be adjusted according to the environmental conditions and soil salinity level in the form of Evapotranspiration(ET)rate.The relationship between environmental conditions and ET rate is hard to be defined by a linear relationship and data-driven Machine learning(ML)based decisions are required to determine the calibrated Evapotranspiration(ETc)rate.ML-assisted ETc is pro-posed to adjust the LF according to the ETc and soil salinity level.A regression model is proposed to determine the ETc rate according to the prevailing tempera-ture,humidity,and sunshine,which would be used to determine the smart LF according to the ETc and soil salinity level.The proposed model is trained and tested against the Blaney Criddle method of Reference evapotranspiration(ETo)determination.The validation of the model from the test dataset reveals the accu-racy of the ML model in terms of Root mean squared errors(RMSE)are 0.41,Mean absolute errors(MAE)are 0.34,and Mean squared errors(MSE)are 0.28 mm day-1.The applications of the proposed solution in a real-time environ-ment show that the LF by the proposed solution is more effective in reducing the soil salinity as compared to the traditional process of leaching.

Reclamation of Coastal Soil Salinity towards Sustainable Rice Production and Mitigating Global Warming Potentials in the Changing Climate

Soil salinity has become a major constraint to rice productivity in the coastal region of Bangladesh, which threatened food security. Therefore, field experiment was conducted at salt stressed Shyamnagor Upazilla of Satkhira district to improve the soil salinity status, sustainable rice production and suppression of global warming potentials. Selected soil amendments viz. trichocompost, tea waste compost, azolla compost and phospho-gypsum (PG) were applied in the field plots one week prior to rice transplanting. In addition, proline solution (25 mM) was applied on the transplanted rice plants at active vegetative stage. Gas samples from the paddy field were collected by Closed Chamber technique and analyzed in by Gas Chromatograph. The 25% replacement of chemical fertilizer (i.e., 75% NPKS) with trichocompost, tea waste compost, Azolla compost and Phospho-gypsum amendments increased grain yield by 4.7% - 7.0%, 2.3% - 7.1% 11.9% - 16.6% and 9.5% - 14.2% during dry boro rice cultivation, while grain yield increments of 5.0% - 7.6%, 2.3% - 10.2%, 12.8% - 15.3% and 10.2% - 15.3% were recorded in wet Aman season respectively, compared to chemically fertilized (100% NPKS) field plot. The least GWPs 3575 and 3650 kg CO2 eq./ha were found in PG Cyanobacterial mixture with proline (T10) and tea waste compost with proline (T8) amended rice field, while the maximum GWPs 4725 and 4500 kg CO2 eq./ha were recorded in NPKS fertilized (100%, T2) and NPKS (75%) with Azolla compost (T5) amended plots during dry boro rice cultivation. The overall soil properties improved significantly with the selected soil amendments, while soil electrical conductivity (EC), soil pH and Na+ cation in the amended soil decreased, eventually improved the soil salinity status. Conclusively, phospho-gypsum amendments with cyanobacteria inoculation and proline solution (25 mM) application could be an effective option to reclaim coastal saline soils, sustaining rice productivity and reducing global warming potentials.

Climate and topography regulate the spatial pattern of soil salinization and its effects on shrub community structure in Northwest China

Soil salinization may affect biodiversity and species composition,leading to changes in the plant community structure.However,few studies have explored the spatial pattern of soil salinization and its effects on shrub community structure at the ecosystem scale.Therefore,we conducted a transect sampling of desert shrublands in Northwest China during the growing season(June–September)in 2021.Soil salinization(both the degree and type),shrub community structure(e.g.,shrub density and height),and biodiversity parameters(e.g.,Simpson diversity,Margalf abundance,Shannon-Wiener diversity,and Pielou evenness indices)were used to assess the effects of soil salinization on shrub community structure.The results showed that the primary degree of soil salinization in the study area was light salinization,with the area proportion of 69.8%.Whereas the main type of soil salinization was characterized as sulfate saline soil,also accounting for 69.8%of the total area.Notably,there was a significant reduction in the degree of soil salinization and a shift in the type of soil salinization from chloride saline soil to sulfate saline soil,with an increase in longitude.Regional mean annual precipitation(MAP),mean annual evapotranspiration(MAE),elevation,and slope significantly contributed to soil salinization and its geochemical differentiation.As soil salinization intensified,shrub community structure displayed increased diversity and evenness,as indicated by the increases in the Simpson diversity,Shannon-Wiener diversity,and Pielou evenness indices.Moreover,the succulent stems and leaves of Chenopodiaceae and Tamaricaceae exhibited clear advantages under these conditions.Furthermore,regional climate and topography,such as MAP,MAE,and elevation,had greater effects on the distribution of shrub plants than soil salinization.These results provide a reference for the origin and pattern of soil salinization in drylands and their effects on the community structure of halophyte shrub species.

Ecological problems and ecological restoration zoning of the Aral Sea

The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world but it has shrunk dramatically as a result of irrational human activities, triggering the "Aral Sea ecological crisis". The ecological problems of the Aral Sea have attracted widespread attention, and the alleviation of the Aral Sea ecological crisis has reached a consensus among the five Central Asian countries(Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan). In the past decades, many ecological management measures have been implemented for the ecological restoration of the Aral Sea. However, due to the lack of regional planning and zoning, the results are not ideal. In this study, we mapped the ecological zoning of the Aral Sea from the perspective of ecological restoration based on soil type, soil salinity, surface water, groundwater table, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI), land cover, and aerosol optical depth(AOD) data. Soil salinization and salt dust are the most prominent ecological problems in the Aral Sea. We divided the Aral Sea into 7 first-level ecological restoration subregions(North Aral Sea catchment area in the downstream of the Syr Darya River(Subregion Ⅰ);artificial flood overflow area in the downstream of the Aral Sea(Subregion Ⅱ);physical/chemical remediation area of the salt dust source area in the eastern part of the South Aral Sea(Subregion Ⅲ);physical/chemical remediation area of severe salinization in the central part of the South Aral Sea(Subregion Ⅳ);existing water surface and potential restoration area of the South Aral Sea(Subregion Ⅴ);Aral Sea vegetation natural recovery area(Subregion Ⅵ);and vegetation planting area with slight salinization in the South Aral Sea(Subregion Ⅶ)) and 14 second-level ecological restoration subregions according to the ecological zoning principles. Implementable measures are proposed for each ecological restoration subregion. For Subregion Ⅰ and Subregion Ⅱ with lower elevations, artificial flooding should be carried out to restore the surface of the Aral Sea. Subregion Ⅲ and Subregion Ⅳ have severe salinization, making it difficult for vegetation to grow. In these subregions, it is recommended to cover and pave the areas with green biomatrix coverings and environmentally sustainable bonding materials. In Subregion Ⅴ located in the central and western parts of the South Aral Sea, surface water recharge should be increased to ensure that this subregion can maintain normal water levels. In Subregion Ⅵ and Subregion Ⅶ where natural conditions are suitable for vegetation growth, measures such as afforestation and buffer zones should be implemented to protect vegetation. This study could provide a reference basis for future comprehensive ecological management and restoration of the Aral Sea.

An improved algorithm for retrieving thin sea ice thickness in the Arctic Ocean from SMOS and SMAP L-band radiometer data

The aim of this study was to develop an improved thin sea ice thickness(SIT)retrieval algorithm in the Arctic Ocean from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity and Soil Moisture Active Passive L-band radiometer data.This SIT retrieval algorithm was trained using the simulated SIT from the cumulative freezing degree days model during the freeze-up period over five carefully selected regions in the Beaufort,Chukchi,East Siberian,Laptev and Kara seas and utilized the microwave polarization ratio(PR)at incidence angle of 40°.The improvements of the proposed retrieval algorithm include the correction for the sea ice concentration impact,reliable reference SIT data over different representative regions of the Arctic Ocean and the utilization of microwave polarization ratio that is independent of ice temperature.The relationship between the SIT and PR was found to be almost stable across the five selected regions.The SIT retrievals were then compared to other two existing algorithms(i.e.,UH_SIT from the University of Hamburg and UB_SIT from the University of Bremen)and validated against independent SIT data obtained from moored upward looking sonars(ULS)and airborne electromagnetic(EM)induction sensors.The results suggest that the proposed algorithm could achieve comparable accuracies to UH_SIT and UB_SIT with root mean square error(RMSE)being about 0.20 m when validating using ULS SIT data and outperformed the UH_SIT and UB_SIT with RMSE being about 0.21 m when validatng using EM SIT data.The proposed algorithm can be used for thin sea ice thickness(<1.0 m)estimation in the Arctic Ocean and requires less auxiliary data in the SIT retrieval procedure which makes its implementation more practical.

Detecting soil salinity with arid fraction integrated index and salinity index in feature space using Landsat TM imagery

Modeling soil salinity in an arid salt-affected ecosystem is a difficult task when using remote sensing data because of the complicated soil context （vegetation cover, moisture, surface roughness, and organic matter） and the weak spectral features of salinized soil. Therefore, an index such as the salinity index （SI） that only uses soil spectra may not detect soil salinity effectively and quantitatively. The use of vegetation reflectance as an indirect indicator can avoid limitations associated with the direct use of soil reflectance. The normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI）, as the most common vegetation index, was found to be responsive to salinity but may not be available for retrieving sparse vegetation due to its sensitivity to background soil in arid areas. Therefore, the arid fraction integrated index （AFⅡ） was created as supported by the spectral mixture analysis （SMA）, which is more appropriate for analyzing variations in vegetation cover （particularly halophytes） than NDVI in the study area. Using soil and vegetation separately for detecting salinity perhaps is not feasible. Then, we developed a new and operational model, the soil salinity detecting model （SDM） that combines AFⅡ and SI to quantitatively estimate the salt content in the surface soil. SDMs, including SDM1 and SDM2, were constructed through analyzing the spatial characteristics of soils with different salinization degree by integrating AFⅡ and SI using a scatterplot. The SDMs were then compared to the combined spectral response index （COSRI） from field measurements with respect to the soil salt content. The results indicate that the SDM values are highly correlated with soil salinity, in contrast to the performance of COSRI. Strong exponential relationships were observed between soil salinity and SDMs （R2〉0.86, RMSE〈6.86） compared to COSRI （R2=0.71, RMSE=16.21）. These results suggest that the feature space related to biophysical properties combined with AFII and SI can effectively provide information on soil salinity.

Effects of water salinity and N application rate on water- and N-use efficiency of cotton under drip irrigation

In arid and semi-arid regions, freshwater scarcity and high water salinity are serious and chronic problems for crop production and sustainable agriculture development. We conducted a field experiment to evaluate the effect of irrigation water salinity and nitrogen（N） application rate on soil salinity and cotton yield under drip irrigation during the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons. The experimental design was a 3×4 factorial with three irrigation water salinity levels（0.35, 4.61 and 8.04 dS/m） and four N application rates（0, 240, 360 and 480 kg N/hm2）. Results showed that soil water content increased as the salinity of the irrigation water increased, but decreased as the N application rate increased. Soil salinity increased as the salinity of the irrigation water increased. Specifically, soil salinity measured in 1：5 soil：water extracts was 218% higher in the 4.61 dS/m treatment and 347% higher in the 8.04 dS/m treatment than in the 0.35 dS/m treatment. Nitrogen fertilizer application had relatively little effect on soil salinity, increasing salinity by only 3%–9% compared with the unfertilized treatment. Cotton biomass, cotton yield and evapotranspiration（ET） decreased significantly in both years as the salinity of irrigation water increased, and increased as the N application rate increased regardless of irrigation water salinity; however, the positive effects of N application were reduced when the salinity of the irrigation water was 8.04 dS/m. Water use efficiency（WUE） was significantly higher by 11% in the 0.35 dS/m treatment than in the 8.04 dS/m treatment. There was no significant difference in WUE between the 0.35 dS/m treatment and the 4.61 dS/m treatment. The WUE was also significantly affected by the N application rate. The WUE was highest in the 480 kg N/hm2 treatment, being 31% higher than that in the 0 kg N/hm2 treatment and 12% higher than that in the 240 kg N/hm2 treatment. There was no significant difference between the 360 and 480 kg N/hm2 treatments. The N use efficiency（NUE） was significantly lower in the 8.04 dS/m treatment than in either the 4.61 dS/m or the 0.35 dS/m treatment. There was no significant difference in NUE between the latter two treatments. These results suggest that irrigation water with salinity 〈4.61 dS/m does not have an obvious negative effect on cotton production, WUE or NUE under the experimental conditions. Application of N fertilizer（0–360 kg N/hm2） could alleviate salt damage, promote cotton growth, and increase both cotton yield and water use efficiency.

Effects of emitter discharge rates on soil salinity distribution and cotton(Gossypium hirsutum L.) yield under drip irrigation with plastic mulch in an arid region of Northwest China

A field experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of different emitter discharge rates under drip irrigation on soil salinity distribution and cotton yield in an extreme arid region of Tarim River catchment in Northwest China. Four treatments of emitter discharge rates, i.e. 1.8, 2.2, 2.6 and 3.2 L/h, were designed under drip irrigation with plastic mulch in this paper. The salt distribution in the range of 70-cm horizontal distance and 100-cm vertical distance from the emitter was measured and analyzed during the cotton growing season. The soil salinity is expressed in terms of electrical conductivity （dS/m） of the saturated soil extract （ECe）, which was measured using Time Domain Reflector （TDR） 20 times a year, including 5 irrigation events and 4 measured times before/after an irrigation event. All the treatments were repeated 3 times. The groundwater depth was observed by SEBA MDS Dipper 3 automatically at three experimental sites. The results showed that the order of reduction in averaged soil salinity was 2.6 L/h 〉 2.2 L/h 〉 1.8 L/h 〉 3.2 L/h after the completion of irrigation for the 3-year cotton growing season. Therefore, the choice of emitter discharge rate is considerably important in arid silt loam. Usually, the ideal emitter discharge rate is 2.4-3.0 L/h for soil desalinization with plastic mulch, which is advisable mainly because of the favorable salt leaching of silt loam and the climatic conditions in the studied arid area. Maximum cotton yield was achieved at the emitter discharge rate of 2.6 L/h under drip irrigation with plastic mulch in silty soil at the study site. Hence, the emitter discharge rate of 2.6 L/h is recommended for drip irrigation with plastiic mulch applied in silty soil in arid regions.

Spatio-Temporal Changes of Soil Salinity in Arid Areas of South Xinjiang Using Electromagnetic Induction

The aim of this paper was to research the spatio-temporal changes in total soluble salt content （TS） in a typical arid region of South Xinjiang, China, where the climate is arid and soil salinization happens easily. The total soluble salt content was interpreted by measurements made in the horizontal mode with EM38 and EM31. The electromagnetic induction （EM） surveys were made three times with the apparent soil electrical conductivity （ECa） measurements taken at 3 873 locations in Nov. 2008, 4 807 locations in Apr. 2009 and 6 324 locations in Nov. 2009, respectively. For interpreting the ECa measurements into total soluble salt content, calibtion sites were needed for EM survey of each time, e.g., 66 sites were selected in Nov. 2008 to measure ECa, and soils-core samples were taken by different depth layers of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm at the same time. On every time duplicate samples were taken at five sites to allevaite the local-scale variability, and soil temperatures in different layers through the profiles were also measured. Factors including TS, pH, water content, bulk density were analyzed by lab experiments. ECa calibration equations were obtained by linear regression analysis, which indicated that soil salinity was one primary concern to ECa with a determination coefficient of 0.792 in 0-10 cm layer, 0.711 in 10-20 cm layer and 0.544 in 20-40 cm layer, respectively. The maps of spatial distribution were predicted by Kriging interpolation, which showed that the high soil salinity was located near the drainage canal, which validated the trend effect caused by the irrigation canal and the drainage canal. And by comparing the soil salinity in different layers, the soluble salt accumulated to the top soil surface only in the area where the soil salinization was serious, and in the other areas, the soil salinity trended to increase from the top soil surface to 40 cm depth. Temporal changes showed that the soil salinity in November was higher than that in April, and the soil salinization trended to aggravate, especially in the top soil layer of 0-10 cm.

Effects of soil salinity on rhizosphere soil microbes in transgenic Bt cotton fields

With increased cultivation of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis （Bt） cotton in the saline alkaline soil of China, assessments of transgenic crop biosafety have focused on the effects of soil salinity on rhizosphere microbes and Bt protein residues. In 2013 and 2014, investigations were conducted on the rhizosphere microbial biomass, soil enzyme activities and Bt protein contents of the soil under transgenic Bt cotton （variety GK19） and its parental non-transgenic cotton （Simian 3） cultivated at various salinity levels （1.15, 6.00 and 11.46 dS m-1）. Under soil salinity stress, trace amounts of Bt proteins were ob- served in the Bt cotton GK19 rhizosphere soil, although the protein content increased with cotton growth and increased soil salinity levels. The populations of slight halophilic bacteria, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, ammonifying bacteria, nitrifying bacteria and denitrifying bacteria decreased with increased soil salinity in the Bt and non-Bt cotton rhizosphere soil, and the microbial biomass carbon, microbial respiration and soil catalase, urease and alkaline phosphatase activity also decreased. Correlation analyses showed that the increased Bt protein content in the Bt cotton rhizosphere soil may have been caused by the slower decomposition of soil microorganisms, which suggests that salinity was the main factor influencing the relevant activities of the soil microorganisms and indicates that Bt proteins had no clear adverse effects on the soil microorganisms. The results of this study may provide a theoretical basis for risk assessments of genetically modified cotton in saline alkaline soil.

Improved Prediction and Reduction of Sampling Density for Soil Salinity by Different Geostatistical Methods

The spatial estimation for soil properties was improved and sampling intensities also decreased in terms of incorporated auxiliary data. In this study, kriging and two interpolation methods were proven well to estimate auxiliary variables： cokriging and regression-kriging, and using the salinity data from the first two stages as auxiliary variables, the methods both improved the interpolation of soil salinity in coastal saline land. The prediction accuracy of the three methods was observed under different sampling density of the target variable by comparison with another group of 80 validation sample points, from which the root-mean-square error （RMSE） and correlation coefficient （r） between the predicted and measured values were calculated. The results showed, with the help of auxiliary data, whatever the sample size of the target variable may be, cokriging and regression-kriging performed better than ordinary kriging. Moreover, regression-kriging produced on average more accurate predictions than cokriging. Compared with the kriging results, cokriging improved the estimations by reducing RMSE from 23.3 to 29% and increasing r from 16.6 to 25.5%, regression-kriging improved the estimations by reducing RMSE from 25 to 41.5% and increasing r from 16.8 to 27.2%. Therefore, regression-kriging shows promise for improved prediction for soil salinity and reduction of soil sampling intensity considerably while maintaining high prediction accuracy. Moreover, in regression-kriging, the regression model can have any form, such as generalized linear models, non-linear models or tree-based models, which provide a possibility to include more ancillary variables.

Effects of water application intensity of microsprinkler irrigation on water and salt environment and crop growth in coastal saline soils

Laboratory and field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of water application intensity（WAI） on soil salinity management and the growth of Festuca arundinacea（festuca） under three stages of water and salt management strategies using microsprinkler irrigation in Hebei Province, North China. The soil water content（è） and salinity of homogeneous coastal saline soils were evaluated under different water application intensities in the laboratory experiment. The results indicated that the WAI of microsprinkler irrigation influenced the è, electrical conductivity（ECe） and p H of saline soils. As the WAI increased, the average values of è and ECe in the 0–40 cm profile also increased, while their average values in the 40–60 cm profile decreased. The p H value also slightly decreased as depth increased, but no significant differences were observed between the different treatments. The time periods of the water redistribution treatments had no obvious effects. Based on the results for è, ECe and p H, a smaller WAI was more desirable. The field experiment was conducted after being considered the results of the technical parameter experiment and evaporation, wind and leaching duration. The field experiment included three stages of water and salt regulation, based on three soil matric potentials（SMP）, in which the SMP at a 20-cm depth below the surface was used to trigger irrigation. The results showed that the microsprinkler irrigation created an appropriate environment for festuca growth through the three stages of water and salt regulation. The low-salinity conditions that occurred at 0–10 cm depth during the first stage（-5 k Pa） continued to expand through the next two stages. The average p H value was less than 8.5. The tiller number of festuca increased as SMP decreased from the first stage to the third stage. After the three stages of water and salt regulation, the highly saline soil gradually changed to a low-saline soil. Overall, based on the salt desalinization, the microsprinkler irrigation and three stages of water and salt regulation could be successfully used to cultivate plants for the reclamation of coastal saline land in North China.

Spatial prediction and modeling of soil salinity using simple cokriging, artificial neural networks, and support vector machines in El Outaya plain, Biskra, southeastern Algeria

Soil salinization is one of the most predominant environmental hazards responsible for agricultural land degradation,especially in the arid and semi-arid regions.An accurate spatial prediction and modeling of soil salinity in agricultural land are so important for farmers and decision-makers to develop the appropriate mechanisms to prevent the loss of fertile soil and increase crop production.El Outaya plain is marked by soil salinity increases due to the excessive use of poor groundwater quality for irrigation.This study aims to compare the performance of simple kriging,cokriging(SCOK),multilayer perceptron neural networks(MLP-NN),and support vector machines(SVM)in the prediction of topsoil and subsoil salinity.The field covariates including geochemical properties of irrigation groundwater and physical properties of soil and environmental covariates including digital elevation model and remote sensing derivatives were used as input candidates to SCOK,MLP-NN,and SVM.The optimal input combination was determined using multiple linear stepwise regression(MLSR).The results revealed that the SCOK using field covariates including water electrical conductivity(ECw)and sand percentage(sand%),and environmental covariates including land surface temperature(LST),topographic wetness index(TWI),and elevation could significantly increase the accuracy of soil salinity spatial prediction.The comparison of the prediction accuracy of the different modeling techniques using the Taylor diagram indicated that MLP-NN using LST,TWI,and elevation as inputs were more accurate in predicting the topsoil salinity[ECs(TS)]with a mean absolute error(MAE)of 0.43,root mean square error(RMSE)of 0.6 and correlation coefficient of 0.946.MLP-NN using ECw and sand%as inputs were more accurate in predicting the subsoil salinity[ECs(SS)]with MAE of 0.38,RMSE of0.6,and R of 0.968.

Spatio-temporal variations of soil water content and salinity around individual Tamarix ramosissima in a semi-arid saline region of the upper Yellow River, Northwest China

Ecological restoration by Taman＇x plants on semi-arid saline lands affects the accumulation, distribution patterns and related mechanisms of soil water content and salinity. In this study, spatio-temporal variations of soil water content and salinity around natural individual Tamarix ramosissiraa Ledeb. were invetigated in a semi-arid saline region of the upper Yellow River, Northwest China. Specifically, soil water content, electrical conductivity （EC）, sodium adsorption ratio （SARa）, and salt ions （including Na＋, K＋, Ca2＋, Mg2＋ and 8042-） were measured at different soil depths and at different distances from the trunk of T. ramasissima in May, July, and September 2016. The soil water content at the 20-80 cm depth was significantly lower in July and September than in May, indicating that T. ramosissima plants absorb a large amount of water through the roots during the growing period, leading to the decreasing of soil water content in the deep soil layer. At the 0-20 cm depth, there was a salt island effect around individual T. ramosissima, and the ECe differed significantly inside and outside the canopy of T. ramosissima in May and July. Salt bioaccumulation and stemflow were two major contributing factors to this difference. The SAR at the 0-20 cm depth was significantly different inside and outside the canopy of T. ramosissima in the three sampling months. The values of SAR~ at the 60-80 cm depth in May and July were significantly higher than those at the 0-60 cm depth and higher than that at the corresponding depth in September. The distribution of Na＋ in the soil was similar to that of the SAI, while the concentrations of K＋, Ca2＋, and Mg2＋ showed significant differences among the sampling months and soil depths. Both season and soil depth had highly significant effects on soil water content, ECe and SARa, whereas distance from the trunk of T. ramosissima only significantly affected ECe. Based on these results, we recommend co-planting of shallow-rooted salt-tolerant species near the Tamarx plants and avoiding planting herbaceous plants inside the canopy of T. ramodssima for afforestation in this semi-arid saline region. The results of this study may provide a reference for appropriate restoration in the semi-arid saline regions of the upper Yellow River.

A new method to retrieve salinity profiles from sea surface salinity observed by SMOS satellite

This paper proposes a new method to retrieve salinity profiles from the sea surface salinity （SSS） observed by the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity （SMOS） satellite. The main vertical patterns of the salinity profiles are firstly extracted from the salinity profiles measured by Argo using the empirical orthogonal function. To determine the time coefficients for each vertical pattern, two statistical models are developed. In the linear model, a transfer function is proposed to relate the SSS observed by SMOS （SMOS_SSS） with that measured by Argo, and then a linear relationship between the SMOS_SSS and the time coefficient is established. In the nonlinear model, the neural network is utilized to estimate the time coefficients from SMOS_SSS, months and positions of the salinity profiles. The two models are validated by comparing the salinity profiles retrieved from SMOS with those measured by Argo and the climatological salinities. The root-mean-square error （RMSE） of the linear and nonlinear model are 0.08-0.16 and 0.08-0.14 for the upper 400 m, which are 0.01-0.07 and 0.01-0.09 smaller than the RMSE of climatology. The error sources of the method are also discussed.