Geographia Technica, Vol 13, Issue no. 2/2018, pp. 1-11
MODELING THE SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF THE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THE SOIL USING DIFFERENT SPATIAL INTERPOLATION METHODS: CASE OF THE DAWLING NATIONAL PARK IN MAURITANIA
Mohamed Mahmoud Ould ABIDINE, Ahmed El ABOUDI, Aminetou KEBD, Brahim Baba ALOUEIMINE, Youssef DALLAHI, Ahmedou SOULÉ, Ahmedou VADEL
ABSTRACT: One of the most important indicators for land degradation is the progressive salinization of soils. This work, conducted at the Dawling National Park (southern Mauritania), assess the effects of salinity on soil quality. Analyzes of spatial variation in salinity were performed using interpolation and spatial analysis (GIS) methods. Thus, maps of electrical conductivity have been developed using several methods of interpolation and spatial analysis: Inverse Weighting (IDW), Local Polynomial Interpolation (LPI), Radial Base Function (RBF) and Ordinary Kriging (OK). The obtained results showed that the best estimator is IDW method, which provides a good ability to predict electrical conductivity, with a mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.34 mS/cm and a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.99.
Keywords: Electrical Conductivity, Salinity, Soil, GIS, Interpolation, Diawling National Park, Mauritania.
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