Quantitative evaluation of soil salinization risk in Keriya Oasis based on grey evaluation model

Abstract: Soil salinization is a global issue of concern and the biggest global natural disaster. Salt-affected soil is also the most prominent environmental problem in arid and semi-arid regions in China. In this study, the Keriya Oasis in the arid zone of Xinjiang, Northwestern China was chosen as study area, a geodatabase was created with multiple field observations together with laboratory analyses and related datasets including attribute, vector and raster data. Topsoil electrical conductivity (TS_EC) was selected as the ecological endpoint for evaluating the salinization risk. And 14 evaluation indicators were chosen as the main sources of soil salinity risk which included ground evapotranspiration (ET), land surface temperature (LST), surface albedo (Albedo), digital elevation model (DEM), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), leaf area index (LAI), aboveground biomass (Biomass), groundwater depth (GWD), groundwater electrical conductivity (GW_EC), topsoil water content (SWC), topsoil pH value (pH), land use land / cover type (LULC), population density (PD) and per capita arable land (PCAL). An index system for soil salinization risk assessment was established. Through remote sensing (RS) techniques and quantitative inversion, 7 risk factors were derived such as: NDVI, LAI, Albedo, LST, ET, Biomass, DEM; the other factors were spatially interpolated, then data normalization was applied to all these datasets and overlayed GIS database of soil salinity risk factors was built. Risk weights of evaluation factors were determined and weight coefficients were calculated by adopting Pearson correlation analysis method. The theory of grey relational analysis system was introduced into soil salinization risk assessment, and risk assessment model was constructed in the study area. Then the soil salinity risk of the region was quantitatively assessed and classified, and finally soil salinity risk map was elaborated. The results showed that: the salinization risk values of the whole study area varied from 0.053 to 0.747, with a mean value of 0.190. Spatial distribution heterogeneity of different risks in the Keriya Oasis was prominent, and soil salinity risk was mainly demonstrated moderate risk. The area of risk rating 3 was the largest, and it accounted for 48.94% of total study area, soil salinity risk was moderate, belonging to potential risk area; The area of rating 4 accounted for 27.69%, and it belonged to the low risk region. Rating 2 risk region accounted for 19.35%, and soil salinity risk was relatively high. Rating 1 risk area accounted for only 4.02%, but it was characterized with very high risk soil salinity. Although the high risky area was smaller in size, it might lead a negative influence on the ecological environment and agricultural production in the northern region of the oasis. In conclusion, the quantitative assessment and mapping results of soil salinization risk in Keriya Oasis could be used to make appropriate decisions related to crop production, prevention of soil salinization, and it might offer scientific evidence and consulting for obtaining sustainable development of agriculture and eco-environment in arid and semi-arid regions.