ABSTRACT
The measurement of soil salinity is a quantification of the total salts present in the liquid portion of the soil. The measurement of soil salinity is important in agriculture because salinity reduces crop yields by 1) making it more difficult for the plant to extract water; 2) causing specific-ion toxicity; 3) influencing the soil permeability and tilth; and/or 4) upsetting the nutritional balance of plants. A discussion of the basic principles, methods, and equipment for measuring soil salinity is presented. The concise discussion provides a basic knowledge of the background, latest equipment, and current accepted methodologies for measuring soil salinity with suction cup extractors, porous matrix/salinity sensors, electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction (EM), and time domain reflectometry (TDR).
