Soil salinity: A global threat to sustainable development

Soil is a vital resource for feeding the burgeoning global population, and it is also essential for realizing most of the 'United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)'. For example, it is vital to realizing the 'Zero hunger (SDG2), Good health and well-being (SDG3), Clean water and sanitation (SDG6), and Life on land (SDG15)'. Excess salts present in the soil make it saline, and it poses a significant threat to agricultural production and environmental health. Soil salinity is an extensive problem and spreads over one billion hectares extended over 100 countries. This paper presents a comprehensive review of global soil salinity management through the applications of remote sensing and GIS. All possible sources of relevant and current literature were accessed and more than 260 publications were collected and carefully analysed, for this review. The rationale and severity of the salinity problem are provided. The impact of salinity on plant yield and the effect of climate change on soil salinity are detailed. The salinity indicators and salinity monitoring and mapping are provided, and the global cases of soil salinity management through remote sensing and GIS applications under different agro-hydro-climatic environments are discussed, followed by a summary of conclusions and challenges along with future research directions. The analysis of past investigations showed that remote sensing strategy might be a practical approach to adequately assess plant response such as evapotranspiration under diverse salinity environments, yet it additionally has various difficulties. The lower spatial and temporal resolution of imagery may reason errors because of subpixel heterogeneity. However, with the improvement of the better-resolution thermal infrared remote method, there is the possibility to spot spatial variations at a smaller scale.

Automated summary

Soil is crucial for feeding the growing global population, and excess salt causing soil salinity poses a significant threat to agricultural production and environmental health. Remote sensing and GIS applications are effective in managing global soil salinity issues by providing indicators, monitoring, and mapping, although challenges such as spatial resolution errors need to be addressed.