The Software for the Measurement of Soil Salinity via Satellite Imagery Can Provide a Precision Equivalent to 1:20,000 Scale Topographic Maps

Dr. Mahdi Hasanlou, Associate Professor of Surveying and Geospatial Engineering at the UT College of Engineering, who supervised the project, has provided more information about the project in a recent interview with Hediyeh Mirzayi, UT Public Relations Officer. 

According to Dr. Hasanlou, the primary objective of the project was to help solve major issues concerning agriculture and land management, particularly those relating to water scarcity, soil degradation, flooding, dust storms, and crop production decline.

Dr. Hasanlou added that the soil maps currently available in Iran are small-scale maps and provide a precision of 1:50,000 at best. The small scale and outdatedness of these maps and the type of information they provide do not comport well with the Agricultural Land Use Plan, which adds to the significance of the project. 

Dr. Hasanlou also revealed that the project took 16 months to complete.

He concluded the interview by noting that A Fast Online Software for the Measurement of Soil Salinity at Any Location in the Country via Satellite Imagery has a wide range of applications and can be used in multifarious fields by both legal entities, such as the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Soil and Water Research Institute, the Ministry of Energy, and the Department of Environment, and natural persons, such as farmers, managers of agricultural systems, development planners, scholars, and researchers.