Mapping Soil Salinity in Boulagh (Saveh) Saline Lands Using Geostatistical Methods

Salinity is one of the most destructive processes in soils, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. In order to use and exploitation of such soils, the soil monitoring and mapping are necessary. In this study, in order to zoning and mapping of soils, sampling was collected based on network method from Bolagh (Saveh) saline lands and the electrical conductivity of saturated soil extract was determined. Then the data had been transferred to the ArcGIS 10 software and soil mapping had been drawn. The exponential model of Semivariogram showed the best cross-validation and efficiency than the other models (spherical, linear and gussian). Also, the amount of nugget effect to the threshold was 84/43% which indicates that the medium spatial correlation for soil EC amounts in the study area. Also, the variogram effect range was calculated about 261 meters. Assessment of the resultant index indicates that the geostatistical has been able to soil salinity mapping with moderate accuracy and precision. The results showed that among five soil salinity classes, the soils of study area classifying in four Classes (including non-salinity, low salinity, medium salinity and high salinity) which highest quantities are related to middle southern regions. These results show that soil salinity in this area has high variability.