Estimating Soil Salinity from Saturated Soil‐Paste Electrical Conductivity

Abstract

A method is presented for estimating the electrical conductivity of the saturated soil-paste extract (ECe) from measurement of the electrical conductivity of the saturated soil-paste (ECp) and estimated saturated soil-paste water content (SP), for purposes of soil salinity appraisal. The method is suitable for both field and laboratory applications. Empirical relations are provided to estimate values of several parameters required for the method. The appropriateness of the method was tested using two groups of soil samples, one of which varied widely in geographical sources and parent materials, in addition to texture and salinity. The method estimated the soil salinities very accurately (r2 > 0.9; slope {approx} 1.0; intercept {approx} 0.0).