Study on the relationship between regional soil desertification and salinization and groundwater based on remote sensing inversion: A case study of the windy beach area in Northern Shaanxi

Yu Liu; Jiujiang Wu; Tingting Huang; Weibo Nie; Zhifeng Jia; Yuhui Gu; Xiaoyi Ma

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168854

Study on the relationship between regional soil desertification and salinization and groundwater based on remote sensing inversion: A case study of the windy beach area in Northern Shaanxi

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Feb 20:912:168854. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168854. Epub 2023 Nov 30.

Authors

Yu Liu¹, Jiujiang Wu¹, Tingting Huang², Weibo Nie³, Zhifeng Jia⁴, Yuhui Gu¹, Xiaoyi Ma⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China.
² Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, Zhengzhou 450003, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi'an University of Technology, Xi'an 710048, China.
⁴ School of Water and Environment, Chang'an University, Xi'an 710064, China.
⁵ College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China. Electronic address: xma@nwafu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38040370
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168854

Abstract

Soil desertification and salinization are important environmental concerns in arid regions, and their relationship with groundwater change must be further clarified. However, the relationships among soil desertification, salinization, and groundwater are difficult to investigate on a large spatiotemporal scale using traditional ground surveys. In the windy beach area in Northern Shaanxi (WBANS), desertification and salinization problems coexist; therefore, this area was selected as the study area. The feasibility of implementing large-scale remote sensing inversions to identify the degree of desertification and salinization was verified based on measured data, and the degree of influence of groundwater burial depth (GBD) on desertification and salinization was quantified using the geodetector and residual trend analysis methods. The results showed that the GBD in the WBANS presented an increasing trend and the degree of salinization showed a decreasing trend. Moreover, the joint influence of the unique natural environment and anthropogenic activities has led to increases in fractional vegetation cover and considerable improvements in the ecological environment. The intensity of desertification explained by GBD in the WBANS increased significantly (p < 0.01) at a rate of change of 0.0190/year, with high q-values above 0.66 for both Yuyang and Shenmu. The contribution rate of potential evapotranspiration and precipitation to salinization in Yuyang and Shenmu was >97 %, and the contribution rate of GBD to salinization in Dingbian, Jingbian, and Hengshan was 34.78 %, 31.15 %, and 29.41 %, respectively. Overall, the suitable GBD in the WBANS is 2-4 m. The study results provide a reference for research on the inversion, monitoring, and prevention of desertification and salinization dynamics on a large spatiotemporal scale and offer a scientific basis for rationally determining GBD.

Keywords: Dynamic groundwater change; Fractional vegetation cover; Geodetector; Residual trend analysis; Salinization detection index.