The history of study and main trends in the development of the methods of soil salinity assessment and mapping in arid and semiarid regions

The national and foreign literature was reviewed in terms of milestones and prospects of development of soil salinity assessment and mapping in arid regions. The contribution of the department of salt-affected soils of V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute into the development of methods for assessment and mapping of salt-affected soils in Russia and Central Asia during the second half of the XXth century was illustrated. The analysis of the state of assessment and inventory of salt-affected soils in Russia by the beginning of the XXIst century has shown that the latest data given in the published literature on properties and distribution of salt-affected soils are outdated as they are based on the 30-year-old studies. Undoubtedly, these data should be revised with the use of modern methods and approaches widely adopted worldwide. A uniform guideline for the assessment of salt-affected soils of Russia should be developed with the due account for international approaches. Such a guideline will be necessary for inventory and creation of database of salt-affected soils compatible with international databases. The methodology of mapping and inventory of salt-affected soils based on the uniform approach to the assessment of salt-affected soils and specified methodology of large-scale mapping with the use of remote sensing data and proximal soil sensing should be developed.