Monitoring the seasonal dynamics of soil salinization in  the Yellow River delta of China using Landsat data

Chen, Hongyan; Zhao, Gengxing; Li, Yuhuan; Wang, Danyang; Ma, Ying

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-1499-2019

Articles | Volume 19, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-1499-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Remote sensing, modelling-based hazard and risk assessment,...

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-1499-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 7

Research article

|

24 Jul 2019

Research article |

| 24 Jul 2019

Monitoring the seasonal dynamics of soil salinization in the Yellow River delta of China using Landsat data

Hongyan Chen, Gengxing Zhao, Yuhuan Li, Danyang Wang, and Ying Ma

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Final revised paper (published on 24 Jul 2019)
Preprint (discussion started on 30 Oct 2018)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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SC1: 'comments', Shiliang Liu, 31 Oct 2018
- AC3: 'Response to short comment #1', Hongyan Chen, 16 Dec 2018
RC1: 'comments', Anonymous Referee #1, 31 Oct 2018
- AC1: 'respond to Referee 1', Hongyan Chen, 16 Dec 2018
RC2: 'comments on An attempt to monitor seasonal dynamics of soil salinization in the Yellow River Delta region of China using Landsat data', Anonymous Referee #2, 11 Nov 2018
- AC2: 'respond to Referee 2', Hongyan Chen, 16 Dec 2018
RC3: 'review', Anonymous Referee #3, 31 Jan 2019
- AC4: 'Response to referee #3', Hongyan Chen, 27 Feb 2019

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Reconsider after major revisions (further review by editor and referees) (08 Mar 2019) by Wenwu Zhao

AR by Hongyan Chen on behalf of the Authors (08 Apr 2019) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (13 Apr 2019) by Wenwu Zhao

RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (17 Apr 2019)

RR by Anonymous Referee #3 (18 Apr 2019)

Suggestions for revision or reasons for rejection

I found a number long sentences which make them very difficult to follow, in addition to the associated grammatical errors. These sentences blurred the message that the authors tried to convey. On an occasion, it is also contrasting to each other, for example: salt accumulates on the soil surface, and salt is relatively rare and well-distributed in the middle and lower parts of the soil profile (below the core soil). More examples for these type of sentences can be found in the following sections:
1. Introduction
P2: L6-10 Obtaining information on soil characteristics, such as the degree of salinity and geographical distribution of saline soil in real time, and improving our ability to forecast soil salinization dynamics are necessary prerequisites for scientific management, reasonable improvement and utilization of regional saline soil, then help to reduce ecological risks (Melendez-Pastor et al. 2012; Yang et al. 2018).

P4: L1-5 As the main risk to farmland ecosystems in this region, soil salinization can result in a large reduction in agricultural production and fragile ecological environments; and, soil salinization seriously affects the utilization of land resources as well as the development of the regional economy and society (Yang et al. 2015; Weng et al. 2010).

P4: L5-8 Moreover, in regions with distinct seasons, the differences in rainfall and evaporation between different seasons are great, the changes in soil moisture are obvious, and soil salinity exhibits a close relation with soil moisture; thus, the soil salinity usually varies greatly between seasons.
2. Materials and Methods
P5: L7-10 The soil parent material is the Yellow River alluvial material, and the soil texture is light; salt accumulates on the soil surface, and salt is relatively rare and well-distributed in the middle and lower parts of the soil profile (below the core soil).
3. Results
P9: L14-L16 As determined from the minimum, maximum, and mean values, our results showed that the SSC reached its maximum concentration in winter (the mean = 9.50 g/kg) and decreased gradually, and the SSC varied obviously between seasons.

P10: L13-15 The performances of the three modeling methods were compared, which showed that the prediction accuracy of the SVM models was the highest followed by the BPNN models, and the SMLR models had the lowest accuracy.

P11: L22-P12: L1 According to the classification standard of coastal saline soil in the semihumid area of China, the study area was divided into 5 grades of soil salinization: nonsaline soil, mild saline soil, moderate saline soil, severe saline soil, and solonchak, with the degree of soil salinization gradually increasing from nonsaline soil to solonchak.

Other comments:
Abstract
The Abstract is started with an opinion (It is necessary to monitor the seasonal dynamics of soil salinization in regions with distinct seasonal climates). However, it has no introduction whatsoever which make me question: Why is it necessary?
Please use past tense to describe the result, including in all sections of the manuscript. I still found numerous grammatical errors and awkward sentences throughout the manuscript.
Introduction
P2: Please move L11-L14 to the beginning of the next paragraph
P3: L8 …. there are often significant correlations between traditional VIs (USGS, 2013). I assume it is a drawback for using the traditional VIs. However, I believe a little bit of explanation on why significant correlations may be a disturbance will be helpful for the readers.
P3: Second paragraph is a very convoluted paragraph. I suggest to separate explanation regarding location and season rather than mix them.
Results
P9: L18-19 The standard deviation and coefficient of variation showed that the SSC gradient was significant overall, especially in winter and spring. How did you differentiate between significant and non-significant results?
Discussion
P13: L16-18 Weng et al. (2010) also established an SSC remote sensing revision model using the data from 2153 ~ 2254 nm and 1941 ~ 2092 nm in the region of YRD and achieved good results. What do you mean ‘good results’? Please clarify.
P14: L3-6 In autumn, rainfall and temperature are reduced, and there is little coverage of natural vegetation. At this time, cotton has been collected, and only withered cotton leaves and rods remain in the field and wheat has just begun to emerge out of the soil. I believe that cotton and wheat are categorized as crops instead of natural vegetation in the Method section.

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ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (28 Apr 2019) by Wenwu Zhao

AR by Hongyan Chen on behalf of the Authors (05 May 2019) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (19 May 2019) by Wenwu Zhao

AR by Hongyan Chen on behalf of the Authors (30 May 2019) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (03 Jul 2019) by Wenwu Zhao

AR by Hongyan Chen on behalf of the Authors (08 Jul 2019) Author's response Manuscript

Short summary

Using Landsat data, the inversion model of soil salt content (SSC) for different seasons was determined in the Kenli District in the Yellow River Delta region of China. The SSC exhibited a gradual increasing trend from the southwest to northeast. The SSC accumulated in spring, decreased in summer, increased in autumn and reached its peak at the the end of winter. The results can provide data for the control of soil salt hazards and utilization of saline–alkali soil.