Speaker
Description
The Rheris oases in Southeastern Morocco is a very important ecosystem. It present enormous ecological and natural values. Water scarcity coupled with agricultural intensification results soil salinization and its degradation. This work aims to propose a spatiotemporal monitoring method of soil salinization in the Rheris oasis using spectral indices derived from Thematic Mapper (TM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) data.
The most used indices in the literature were (14 indices) tested and correlated with the results obtained from 50 samples taken from the first soil horizon at a constant depth of 0.20 m from the Novembre 2022 campaign. Based on the results, we can conclude that this approach is an effective and valid methodology for modeling and spatial mapping soil salinity in this area.
The drought cyclicity has increased soil degradation by intensifying the soil salinization process. Soil salinity is strongly associated with The standardized precipitation anomaly index (SPAI). The state of the hydroclimate is another aspect that influences this phenomenon. An increase in salinized surfaces is observed during the periods of 1990–1996, 2000–2005 and 2017-2022. The spatio-temporal distribution of saline soils in Rheris oasis is very variable. The monthly variations are more important than the annual ones.
