Predicting Long-term Dynamics of Soil Salinity and Sodicity on a Global Scale

Predicting Long-term Dynamics of Soil Salinity and Sodicity on a Global Scale

Amirhossein Hassani, Adisa Azapagic, Nima Shokri

Soil salinity varies across space and time due to natural events such as droughts or human activities like fertilization and irrigation. We used machine learning algorithms with climatic, topographic, soil, and remote sensing data as input to develop a long-term analysis of 40 years of topsoil salinity and sodicity changes across the globe. Our analysis showed that a soil of 11.73 Mkm2 was salt-affected between 1980 and 2018, nearly 20% greater than the area of the USA. The results can help to determine the likelihood of salt-affected soils in a particular area and support decision making under current and future climate scenarios for sustainable land, water and ecosystem management.

PNAS 2020 117 (52) 33017-33027
Corresponding Author: Nima Shokri