Present knowledge and future challenges in remote sensing for soil salinization monitoring: a review of bibliometric analysis

Soil salinization presents a considerable risk to agricultural sustainability globally. Remote sensing technology facilitates extensive monitoring and assessment of soil salinization, thus providing technical support for its prevention and management. This study utilizes bibliometric methods to examine the attributes of publications, key research areas, and their evolutionary trends within the domain of soil salinization remote sensing evaluation, spanning 1999 to 2023, using data from the Web of Science Core Collection. Visualization is facilitated by CiteSpace software. The results indicate: (1) In terms of research trends, international investigations into remote sensing monitoring of soil salinization show an overall upward trend, with France, the United States and China being the largest contributors to this field of research. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the institution that has published the most papers, and the journal that has published the most papers is Remote Sensing; (2) In terms of collaborative networks, research institutes and government organizations contribute to a large extent to institutional collaboration. However, most cooperation is currently internal; (3) Keyword analysis demonstrates that over the past 25 years, the research field of soil salinization has evolved from preliminary quantitative monitoring to more in-depth studies using intelligent analysis. The implementation of machine learning and new-generation remote sensing satellites significantly enhances the precision and efficiency of remote sensing monitoring, pointing towards new directions for solving future soil salinization issues. This study reviews the development history of the field of soil salinization remote sensing monitoring, highlights the current state of research, clarifies the focal research areas and evolutionary trends, and offers valuable references for global monitoring of soil salinization.