Abstract
In Khorezm, a district of Uzbekistan situated in the Aral Sea Basin, soil salinization is an important driver of soil degradation in irrigated agriculture. The main objective of this study was to identify techniques that enable rapid estimation of soil salinity. Therefore, bulk electrical conductivity of the soil (ECa-meas) was measured with three different devices (2P, 4P, and CM-138) and electrical conductivity of the soil paste (ECp-meas) was measured with the so-called 2XP device. These measurements were compared with independent estimates of ECa-calc and ECp-calc based on laboratory measurements of the saturated extract, ECe, of soil samples from the same sites. Soil salinity could be assessed satisfactorily with all four devices. ECp-meas could be well reproduced by the 2XP device (R 2 = 0.76), whereas ECa-meas estimates using 2P, 4P, and CM-138 in the field were less accurate (R 2 < 0.50). The sensitivity of all devices to the main ions Cl− and Ca2 + suggests that the measuring principles are similar for all instruments. The devices can therefore be used interchangeably. Field assessment of soil salinity was considerably enhanced by the use of CM-138, because large areas can be quickly assessed, which may be desirable in spite of the lower accuracy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdullaev U (2003) Republic of Uzbekistan. Land degradation assessment in drylands (LADA). Uzgip (State Design and Research Uzgipromeliovodkhoz Institute), Tashkent, p 43
Archie GE (1942) The electrical resistivity log as an aid to determining some reservoir characteristics. Trans AIME 146:54–63
Corwin DL, Rhoades JD (1982) An improved technique for determining soil electrical conductivity–depth relations from above-ground electromagnetic measurements. Soil Sci Soc Am J 46:517–520
FAO (2003) Fertilizer use by crop in Uzbekistan. Land and Water Development Division, Rome
Forkutsa I (2006) Modeling water and salt dynamics under irrigated cotton with shallow groundwater in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. In: Vlek PLG (ed) Ecology and development series, vol 37. Cuvillier Verlag
Hanson BR, Grattan SR (1990) Field sampling of soil, water, and plants. In: Tanji KK (ed) Agricultural salinity assessment and management. vol. 71. ASCE, New York, pp 186–200
Hassan HM, Warrick AW, Amoozegar-Fard A (1983) Sampling volume effects on determining salt in a soil profile. Soil Sci Soc Am J 47:1265–1267
Hendrickx JMH, Baerends B, Raza ZI, Sadig M, Chaudhry AM (1992) Soil salinity assessment by electromagnetic induction of irrigated land. Soil Sci Soc Am J 56:1933–1941
Hendrickx JMH, Das B, Corwin DL, Wraith JM, Kachanoski RG (2002) Relationship between soil water solute concentration and apparent soil electrical conductivity. In: Dane JH, Topp GC (eds) Methods of soil analysis, vol 4. SSSA Book Series 5, Madison, WI, pp 1275–1282
Kachinsky NA (1958) Mehanicheskiy i microagregatniy sostav pochvi. Metodi ego izucheniya (Texture and microagregate composition of the soil. Methods of study). AN SSSR, Moscow
Kaurichev IS (ed) (1989) Pochvovedenie (Soil science). Agropromizdat, Moscow
Landon JR (ed) (1984) Booker tropical soil manual. Booker Agriculture International Limited, Bath
Li CB (1997) Electric conductance. In: Yu TR (ed) Chemistry of variable charge soils. Oxford University Press, New York
Maas EV, Hoffman GJ (1977) Crop salt tolerance – current assessment. Irrigation and Drainage Division, ASCE 103:115–134
Mualem Y, Friedman SP (1991) Theoretical prediction of electrical conductivity in saturated and unsaturated soil. Water Resour Res 27:2771–2777
Rhoades JD, van Schilfgaarde J (1976) An electrical conductivity probe for determining soil salinity. Soil Sci Soc Am J 40:647–651
Rhoades JD, Waggoner BL, Shouse PJ, Alves WJ (1989) Determining soil salinity from soil and soil-paste electrical conductivities: Sensitivity analysis of models. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:1368–1374
Rhoades JD, Shouse PJ, Alves WJ, Manteghi NA, Lesch SM (1990) Determining soil salinity from soil electrical conductivity using different models and estimates. Soil Sci Soc Am J 54:46–54
Richards LA (ed) (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils, vol 60. USDA, Washington
Shirokova Y, Forkutsa I, Sharafutdinova N (2000) Use of electrical conductivity instead of soluble salts for soil salinity monitoring in Central Asia. Irrig Drain Syst 14:199–205
Sudduth KA, Kitchen NR, Bollero GA, Bullock DG, Wiebold WJ (2003) Comparison of electromagnetic induction and direct sensing of soil electrical conductivity. Agron J 95:472–482
Thermo (2004) Orion conductivity theory. Available via Thermo Electron Corporation http://www.thermo.com/eThermo/CMA/PDFs/Articles/articlesFile_11377.pdf. Cited 10 Sep 2004
Wraith JM (2002) Time domain reflectometry. In: Dane JH, Topp GC (eds) Methods of soil analysis, vol 4. SSSA Book Series 5, Madison, WI, pp 1289–1296
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF; project number 0339970A).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Akramkhanov, A., Sommer, R., Martius, C. et al. Comparison and sensitivity of measurement techniques for spatial distribution of soil salinity. Irrig Drainage Syst 22, 115–126 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10795-008-9043-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10795-008-9043-9