Spatial Variations and Distribution Patterns of Soil Salinity at the Canal Scale in the Hetao Irrigation District

Abstract

Soil salinization is a major factor impacting global crop yields. To explore the spatial distribution and influencing factors of soil water and salt in typical canals of the Hetao irrigation district, regional soil information was monitored at fixed locations. In this study, classical statistics, geostatistics, and spatial autocorrelation methods were used to conduct quantitative analyses of soil salt content, water content, soil particle size distribution, and groundwater depth. The variation coefficient of the soil salt content in the 20–40 and 40–60 cm soil layers was between 10% and 100%, which corresponds to a medium degree of variation; the other soil layers had strong degrees of variation. The soil moisture content in each layer varied moderately. The gold coefficients of soil salt content and water content were less than 0.25, and the Z value was greater than 0, showing a strong spatial correlation and certain spatial agglomeration characteristics, which were mainly affected by structural factors in the study area. The distribution patterns of soil water and salt were affected by soil particle size. Sand content decreased with increasing depth, soil salt was negatively correlated with sand content, and soil water was positively correlated with sand content. Soil salinity was significantly affected by groundwater depth and increased with decreasing groundwater depth, following an exponential relationship. When the groundwater depth exceeded 1.7 m, the soil salt content exhibited small changes with groundwater depth. The results of this study could play a guiding role in terms of understanding the degree of soil salinization surrounding canals in the Hetao irrigation area and adjusting land management strategies over time.

Pedological features of a sustainable halophyte wetland: El Hito saline pond (Central Spain)

“…In recent years, numerous research works have been devised to solve the problem of soil salinity variability (i.e., Akramkhanov et al, 2011;Bannari et al, 2008;Cemek et al, 2007;Herrero & Pérez-Coveta, 2005;Hu et al, 2023;Judkins & Myint, 2012).…”

Water, Salt, and Ion Transport and Its Response to Water-Saving Irrigation in the Hetao Irrigation District Based on the SWAT-Salt Model

“…They concluded that over the next 10 years, there would be an increase in irrigation water use of about 10-20% in the autumn and a reduction in soil salinity of about 1.06-10.92%. Hu et al [14] combined several statistical methods to quantitatively analyze soil salinity and water content in the HID. The research showed that soil salinity increased with the decrease in groundwater depth in an exponential relationship.…”