Tracking long-term dynamics of soil salinization using a model combining convolutional neural network and Transformer

Soil salinization is a major land degradation process caused by the accumulation of soluble salts in surface soils and poses a serious threat to agricultural sustainability, particularly in coastal regions. The Yellow River Delta (YRD), as an important agricultural production base in China, is highly vulnerable to soil salinization due to strong evaporation, shallow groundwater, and intensive human activities. To track the long-term spatiotemporal dynamics of soil salinization in this heterogeneous region, this study utilized ground-measured soil salinity concentration (SSC) sample data spanning 2002–2022, together with multi-source satellite data. Here, we share the complete soil salinity sample dataset and related data used in this study to support spatiotemporal analysis and remote sensing–based monitoring of soil salinization in the YRD.