Remote assessment of the degree of soil degradation from radiation properties of soils

The effect of the water and salt contents, the soil texture, and the groundwater level on the radiation properties of soils was studied. A methodology was developed for the remote assessment of the degree of soil degradation on the basis of measuring the brightness temperature and emissivity of soils in the microwave region. Criteria based on the remote measurements of radiation parameters of soils for recording changes in the water-physical and other properties of soils, which are necessary for detecting degradation processes at early stages, were substantiated. For the remote assessment of soil degradation, it was proposed to analyze trends in changes with time concerning the emissivities of unfrozen soils occurring at a positive temperature (depending on the soil water content and the groundwater level), the emissivities of frozen nonsaline soils (depending on the soil texture and thermodynamic temperature), and the brightness temperature (depending on the soil salinity and thermodynamic temperature).