ESTIMATION OF SALT-ACCUMULATED SOILS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGE ANALYSIS IN MINGBULAK DISTRICT OF UZBEKISTAN

Soil salinization poses a significant environmental challenge in arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in irrigated areas. This study aims to develop a cost-effective and efficient method for assessing soil salinity in the Mingbulak district of Namangan, Uzbekistan. Traditional soil salinity measurement methods are time-consuming, costly, and laborintensive. We utilized Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel-2A satellite imagery to derive salinity indices, estimate soil electrical conductivity (EC), and quantify the concentrations of salinity-related cations and anions. Our findings indicate that the Normalized Difference Salinity Index (NDSI) from Landsat 8 outperforms other indices, with an R² of 0.715 for the 0-30 cm soil layer. The study successfully validated a model to create salinity maps, revealing similar patterns to government maps, and demonstrating that satellite-based methods are a viable alternative to traditional approaches.