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La presencia de mujeres en posiciones de liderazgo es fundamental, no solo por factores de igualdad, sino porque genera múltiples beneficios. Este inédito análisis llena un vacío de información al analizar, de forma comparable, los 4 niveles directivos más altos de las Administraciones públicas centrales en 12 sectores representativos para 15 países de la región. El análisis se complementa con variables normativas y organizacionales. El estudio evidencia que la presencia de mujeres aún es limitada en los niveles más altos de toma de decisiones de las Administraciones públicas centrales de América Latina y el Caribe y se concentra en sectores específicos. Existe una brecha entre las acciones formales y los resultados obtenidos. En la mayoría de países existen normativas, organizaciones y políticas públicas para transversalizar las políticas de género, aunque su efecto aún es incierto. La región requiere una agenda de género más ambiciosa, que pase de cumplir con la formalidad a un verdadero aprovechamiento del talento femenino de la región. El sector público podría ser el referente en cada país de lo que significa cerrar la brecha de género. Para ello es necesario acompañar metas aspiracionales con la construcción de capacidades estatales que permitan alcanzar los objetivos propuestos.

Resumen Este artículo expone algunas vicisitudes de los nombres recibidos por un rasgo geográfico de interés medioambiental, subrayando cómo el nombre ha limitado la valoración de su carácter y significación, y por ende su protección legal. El elemento geográfico en cuestión es un humedal natural hipersalino, o salada, de algo más de tres hectáreas y situado en tierras yesosas deTamarite de Litera (Aragón, España). Se rememora el topónimo (femenino) Farrachuela aplicado a esta salada y tras examinar el nombre de un cerro cercano llamado Farrachuelo (masculino), se resalta la paronimia entre el cerro y el humedal, proponiendo un origen común para ambos topónimos. Se indica cómo el nombre usado para esa salada en algunos documentos de propaganda favorece su desconocimiento, no sólo por el público sino también por las Administraciones con competencias sobre el territorio y la conservación de la naturaleza. Finalmente, se postula un topónimo formado por un término genérico transparente, Salada, y el término específico tradicional, Farrachuela, alusivo a antiguos hallazgos de restos arqueológicos. Tal topónimo contribuirá a promover el conocimiento, aprecio y protección de este enclave continental hipersalino. Abstra ct This article reviews some vicissitudes which have undergone the names received by a land feature of environmental interest highlighting how the name affects its character and interest assessment, and consequently, its legal protection. The relevant geographical element is a natural hypersaline wetland, or salada, just above three hectares located on gypseous lands in Tamarite de Litera (Aragon, Spain). It recalls the (feminine) Farrachuela toponym applied to this salada, and after examining the name (masculine) Farrachuelo for a nearby hill, the paronymy between the hill and the wetland is highlighted, so proposing a common origin for both toponyms. It is shown how the name used for that salada in some advertising brochures has favored the lack of knowledge about this, not only by the people but also by the Administration with competence on landscape management and Nature conservation. Finally, a geographycally well-known term is postulated, Salada, and a traditional specific term, Farrachuela, relating to the archeological findings. Such a toponym will promote the knowledge, regard, and protection of this athalassohaline spot.

Se ha llevado a cabo un estudio basado en el análisis digital de imágenes para el seguimiento de los efectos causados por una quema prescrita sobre la superficie del suelo susceptible de verse afectada por procesos erosivos. Se analizaron fotografías de la superficie del suelo tomadas verticalmente a una altura de 138 cm en 330 puntos de muestreo dispuestos en las diagonales de 15 subparcelas de 200 m2 (tres de ellas testigos) en una superficie aproximada de 10 ha en una repoblación de Pinus pinaster Ait quemada bajo prescripción. Durante el proceso de análisis de imagen se ha identificado manualmente en la superficie del suelo las coberturas de acículas, piñas, madera, musgo, restos quemados, biomasa seca, biomasa verde, gravas, y horizonte orgánico y horizonte mineral del suelo. Los resultados muestran que la clasificación automática de imágenes mediante redes neuronales convolucionales describe de forma precisa la realidad de las superficies analizadas. Esto permite reducir la duración de la toma de datos en campo, así como la identificación de las coberturas del suelo y, en especial, la discriminación del suelo mineral desnudo susceptible a la erosión. Por ello, se considera que ampliar y estandarizar esta metodología puede proporcionar importantes beneficios en el seguimiento de la superficie del suelo para cuantificar su erosividad.

46 Pags. The definitive version, with Tabls. and Figs., is available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00370738, Lacustrine coasts, especially those associated with shallow highly fluctuating lakes, do not evolve in exactly the same way as marine coasts. Climate variability can significantly modify the morphology of the water body, affecting the lake surface area, the available fetch, and the water depth, resulting in possible changes to wave generation and propagation. To look more closely at the nature of coastal sediments generated under such specific environments, we selected examples of both shallow lacustrine and open ocean beach deposits. The first location was Gallocanta Lake, a shallow body of water in the Iberian Chain in central Spain; and the second was Mazagón Beach, in the Gulf of Cádiz, a mesotidal sandy beach exposed to Atlantic waves and tides. Both deposits are formed by beach and ridge and runnel systems. The sedimentary structures of the two deposits were compared, together with a genetic scheme for these. In both cases, applying wave propagation models facilitated the interpretation of the sedimentary processes responsible for their genesis. Although the general morphosedimentary characteristics of the two deposits are roughly similar, a more detailed analysis revealed significant differences, some of which could be used as diagnostic indicators of shallow lacustrine environments in geoarchives. Effective fetch seemed not to be a determining factor for explaining the textural differences between the two deposits. Local factors such as wind strength and direction, and approaching wave refraction patterns are important in controlling the final energy reaching both types of coasts, and, hence, the resulting geometry of the clastic coastal deposits. The type and maturity of the available sediment also influence the final textural properties of the deposits. Open ocean beaches receive sporadic high energetic storms; these partially erode the sedimentary record and reduce the preservation potential of coastal deposits compared with those from shallow lake beaches. Comparing lacustrine deposits with marine analogues and identifying similarities and differences between the two coastal environments may help to infer the main factors underlying the formation and development of coastal deposits in non-tidal, fetch-limited environments., This is a contribution to Research Group RNM-328 of the Andalusian Research Plan (P.A.I.), and the Spanish Research Agency (AEI) within the project PCI2018-09299.

6 Pags.- 1 Fig.- 4 Tabls. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license., This paper concerns an old soils report produced using an agronomical approach. The territory studied spans continuous parts of Spain’s Huesca and Zaragoza provinces and includes the Violada area. The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture collected the data from 1975 to 1978 through its now-defunct agency, the National Institute for Agrarian Reform and Development (IRYDA), which was in charge of irrigation works in Spain. The surface area studied was 19,393 ha, with 67% irrigated by inundation and 33% rainfed at the time of the study. The survey and the related investigations were conducted using state-of-the-art procedures for agronomical research. The purpose was to rate the potential of the lands for irrigated agriculture. The document provides a unique snapshot of the soils and agriculture in the 1970s that can provide a baseline for multitemporal comparisons., This work was funded by the Spanish Research Agency (AEI) within the project PCI2018-09299.

39 Pags.- 9 Figs.- 3 Tabls. The definitive version is available at: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14350661, Indicator of Reduction In Soils (IRIS) technology is an important tool for identifying hydric soils, but it does not allow the user to monitor in real time. IRIS uses metal‐oxide coatings on a polyvinyl chloride surface that, under anaerobic conditions, are removed to varying degrees over a 4‐wk incubation period, during which time the user is not cognizant of the outcome. We document the viability of an alternative IRIS approach using clear‐IRIS tubes, made from cellulose acetate butyrate, that can be continuously monitored in situ with a Wi‐Fi–enabled video camera. This work shows that IRIS and clear‐IRIS tubes are statistically equivalent. Manganese‐oxide coated clear‐IRIS tubes correlated well with IRIS tubes (r = .79) and ferrous‐oxide had a high correlation (r = .97). A time‐series analysis showed that rain‐driven soil saturation induced IRIS metal‐oxide reduction and controlled the rate. Clear‐IRIS tubes enable remote sensing of metal‐oxide removal over time., This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project Number: MD‐ENST‐7741. C.C. and B.L. were funded by the project ERANETMED3‐173 AQUASALT (Spanish Government grant PCI2018‐092999).

52 Pags.- 9 Figs. The definitive version is available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00489697, The aim of the present study consists on the establishment of any relationship or interaction between geomorphological processes and vegetation/habitat distribution in an area with strong environmental gradients: an active saline lake in NE Spain. The resulting maps of the major geoforms and CORINE habitats within the lacustrine area were overlain to determine any significant relationships, taking into account the elevation derived from Lidar data. Whereas the geoforms resulted to have a roughly concentric distribution, the habitats appeared to be spread across different areas, and flooding frequency seemed not to be a determining factor in their altitudinal distribution. The correspondence matrix for geoforms and habitats underlined the coincidence between presently active morphodynamic units, flooding/salinity, and habitats typical of saline environments. Geomorphological units associated with the presently active shoreline dynamics host the habitats more typically related to frequent flooding and high salinity levels. The delay between geomorphological dynamics and vegetation changes, together with the opportunistic character of vegetation, promote the coexistence of different geomorphological processes and a great variety of plant communities and habitats. As a major conclusion, the present study provides a method through which a standard procedure may be set up to further determine the interaction between geomorphological processes and vegetation distribution, very useful for understanding vegetation patterns and conservation biodiversity, and the planning and managing of Natura 2000 sites., The Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Universidades funded this study (grant PCI2018-092999) within the project ERANETMED3-173 AQUASALT and additional grants were PIE-201840I009 and the support from Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico, through the Fundación Biodiversidad. This is a contribution to Andalusia Research Group (P.A.I.) RNM 328.

The agricultural and environmental functionality of irrigation districts is sometimes controversial, with salinity as a frequent argument in the arid countries. In the 20th century, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture studied the degree and extent of salinity and other facets of irrigated districts in Spain by conducting soil surveys and land evaluations from the 1940s to the early 1980s. This article presents a—probably partial—list and the available details of these studies for the Ebro Basin. We had access to some of these studies, although for most of them we only have indirect information; we also indicate the existence of these kinds of studies for other regions of mainland Spain. However, updated systematic estimations of the extent and degree of soil salinity are unavailable for most of the irrigated lands in Spain and for many other dry countries. A feasible task, as shown further in the article, is screening the value of the still readable studies and selecting the irrigation districts whose past documentation and present status allow for a new evaluation of soils, or at least measuring their actual salinity for comparison with the previous data. The results will help irrigators, government agencies, and other stakeholders in the appraisal of the effects of agricultural practices—chiefly the application of water—and to re-design them if needed. We advocate for the collection and critical review of the surviving soil studies, and for their rescue through scanning and digitalization. This task is compelling due to the decay of the existing paper documents.

This paper gives, for the first time, details of the vascular plants plus the soluble salts and other major components of their natural substrate in Salada Farrachuela, a hypersaline wetland located in the municipality of Tamarite, NE Spain. The wetland is situated on the outcropping evaporite-cored Barbastro Anticline, an area declared by the environmental authorities to be of community interest and part of the Natura 2000 network. This uncultivated and occasionally flooded wetland harbors plants able to withstand the conditions of their substrate whose upper layer (0¿25 cm) has an average of 41% gypsum (CaSO4¿2H2O), and 7.2 dS m¿1 at 25 ºC elec-trical conductivity in 1:5 soil-to-water weight ratio (EC1:5) extracts. The EC1:5 value in the soil samples up to a depth of 2 m ranges from 6.23 to 7.95 dS m¿1. At this depth, the average EC in the saturation extracts (ECe) is 37.0 dS m¿1, with sulfate being the most abundant ion (503 meq L¿1), followed by magnesium (492 meq L¿1), sodium (113 meq L¿1), and chloride (41 meq L¿1) . Salinity, hydric conditions, and halophilous vegetation contrast distinctly with the surrounding nonsaline gypseous land and its gypsophilous vegetation. This article provides a baseline for future investigations of the ecology of this wetland in relation to salinity, and a reference for the monitoring needed to guarantee its conservation. Resumen Este artículo da por primera vez noticia de las plantas vasculares y de las sales solubles y otros componentes mayoritarios del suelo de la Salada Farrachuela, un humedal hipersalino situado en el municipio de Tamarite de Litera, provincia de Huesca, en el NE de España. El humedal se localiza en el afloramiento del núcleo evaporítico del anticlinal de Barbastro, un área declarada de interés comunitario incluida en la Red Natura 2000. Este humedal, inculto e inundado ocasionalmente, alberga plantas adaptadas a un suelo cuya capa superior (0-25 cm) tiene por término medio un 41% de yeso (CaSO4¿2H2O), 7.2 dS m¿1 a 25 ºC de conductividad eléctrica en el extracto acuoso 1:5 en peso de suelo:agua (EC1:5). Para ese espesor de suelo, la conductividad eléctrica en extracto de saturación (ECe) a 25 ºC es 37.0 dS m¿1, siendo el sulfato el ión más abundante (503 meq L¿1) seguido del magnesio (492 meq L¿1), sodio (113 meq L¿1), y cloruro (41 meq L¿1). La salinidad, las condiciones de humedad y la vegetación halófila contrastan fuertemente con las tierras circundantes, yesosas y no salinas. Este artículo puede ser un punto de partida para futuras investigaciones de la ecología del humedal en relación con la salinidad, y una referencia en el futuro seguimiento necesario para garantizar su conservación, Este artículo da por primera vez noticia de las plantas vasculares y de las sales solubles y otros componentes mayoritarios del suelo de la Salada Farrachuela, un humedal hipersalino situado en el municipio de Tamarite de Litera, provincia de Huesca, en el NE de España. El humedal se localiza en el afloramiento del núcleo evaporítico del anticlinal de Barbastro, un área declarada de interés comunitario incluida en la Red Natura 2000. Este humedal, inculto e inundado ocasionalmente, alberga plantas adaptadas a un suelo cuya capa superior (0-25 cm) tiene por término medio un 41% de yeso (CaSO4•2H2O), 7.2 dS m−1 a 25 ºC de conductividad eléctrica en el extracto acuoso 1:5 en peso de suelo:agua (EC1:5). Para ese espesor de suelo, la conductividad eléctrica en extracto de saturación (ECe) a 25 ºC es 37.0 dS m−1, siendo el sulfato el ión más abundante (503 meq L−1) seguido del magnesio (492 meq L−1), sodio (113 meq L−1), y cloruro (41 meq L−1). La salinidad, las condiciones de humedad y la vegetación halófila contrastan fuertemente con las tierras circundantes, yesosas y no salinas. Este artículo puede ser un punto de partida para futuras investigaciones de la ecología del humedal en relación con la salinidad, y una referencia en el futuro seguimiento necesario para garantizar su conservación.

17 Pags.- 2 Tabls. 2 Supp. files. The definitive version, with Figs., is available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1099145x, In the early 20th century, when extensive areas of land were transformed from rainfed to irrigated agriculture, there was a severe lack of scientific and technical literature available on the effects of applying water to saline soils. This was the case of the Violada Irrigation District located in a semiarid region of NE Spain whose transformation started in the 1940s. We discuss the use of agronomical expertise and the limited knowledge of soils available prior to the transformation, the favorable and unfavorable scenarios encountered during the transformation, and the final success of irrigation despite the initial soil salinization and water logging. We attribute the technical success to the fact that gypsum is common in the soils and geological materials, and to the continued drainage efforts. Failures in the irrigation of saline lands are a frequent subject of discussion in the scientific literature; contrariwise, we present the history of a successfully irrigated district after 70 years., This work was funded by the Spanish Government under the research projects PCIN-2014-106 and CGL-2015-71360-P.

22 Pags.- 10 Figs. Derechos de reproducción bajo licencia Creative Commons 3.0. Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 3.0 España (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 ES) Se permite su inclusión en repositorios sin ánimo de lucro., [ES] La laguna de Gallocanta, de 14 km2 de extensión, se localiza entre las provincias de Zaragoza y Teruel. Sufre frecuentes fluctuaciones del nivel de agua, que oscilan entre la desecación total y un máximo de casi 3 m de profundidad. Está expuesta a vientos fuertes y persistentes del NO, que originan oleaje, corrientes y transporte de sedimentos a lo largo de litorales donde son habituales las playas, flechas, cordones y otras formas costeras. La identificación de antiguos cordones litorales del Pleistoceno Superior en canteras situadas en la zona perilagunar, sugiere una extensión mucho mayor del ámbito lacustre en pocas pasadas, alcanzando al menos 45 km2 de lámina de agua, ubicada a más de 15 m de altura por encima del fondo actual. Las llanuras perilacustres existentes entre dichos cordones y la laguna actual albergan registros morfosedimentarios de paleolíneas de costa de tiempos holocenos e históricos. Dada la gran dificultad de reconocer estas morfologías relictas mediante métodos tradicionales, se emplearon dos fuentes de información: fotografías aéreas de alta resolución (1:15.000) y un modelo digital del terreno generado con datos LiDAR con una precisión de 0,2 m. Se analizó la topografía de forma continua extrayendo las curvas de nivel, para obtener una interpretación topográfica de alta precisión. Posteriormente, se integraron los resultados, operando en entorno SIG, y se realizó una inspección de campo. Como resultado se ha obtenido una serie de secuencias de formas litorales relictas escalonadas que rodean completamente la laguna actual con gran continuidad lateral. Se han identificado unos 10 niveles relictos, algunos de ellos con espectaculares formas litorales bien conservadas como flechas con ganchos recurvados, contraflechas, bahías cerradas por islas barrera, sistemas de barras paralelas, paleodeltas, etc. Estas formas permiten una reconstrucción inicial de la dinámica litoral dominante en tiempos pasados., [EN] Gallocanta Lake, with and extension of 14 km2 , is located between Zaragoza and Teruel provinces. It experiences frequent water level fluctuations, oscillating between total desiccation and 3 m of maximum depth. The lake is exposed to strong persistent winds blowing from the NW, which generate waves, currents and sediment transport along the shores, where beaches, spits, ridges and other coastal forms are common. The recognition of ancient, Upper Pleistocene, littoral ridges in quarries located in the perilacustrine zone suggests a much greater extension of the lacustrine environment in past times, reaching at least 45 km2 of water surface, at a height more than 15 m above the present lake bottom. Flat surfaces existing between such ridges and the present lake include morphosedimentary records of palaeoshorelines formed in Holocene and historical times. Given the difficulty of recognition of such relict forms by using traditional methods, two alternative sources of information were employed: high-resolution aerial photographs (1:15.000) and a digital terrain model generated from LiDAR data with 0.2 m resolution. Topography was analysed in a continuous way extracting contour lines in order to obtain a high-resolution topographical interpretation. The results were later integrated in a SIG environment, together with field inspection. As a result, a series of stepped relict littoral form sequences have been obtained, completely surrounding the present lake, with a great lateral continuity. About 10 different relict levels have been identified, some of them hosting spectacular well preserved littoral forms like spits with recurved hooks, counter-spits, bays closed by barrier islands, parallel bar systems, palaeodeltas, etc. All these forms allow a preliminary reconstruction of the littoral dynamics prevailing in the past on the lake shores., El presente trabajo es una aportación al proyecto BASIL (PCIN-2014-106), financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad a través de APCIN, y al proyecto i-COOP- 2016SU0015 del CSIC. También es una aportación al grupo de investigación RNM-328 del Plan Andaluz de Investigación.

20 Pags.- 6 Figs. The definitive version is available at: https://link.springer.com/journal/10933, Shallow lakes in semiarid regions experience frequent water level fluctuations. Each long-lasting episode of water-level lowering leaves behind abandoned littoral forms and deposits whose identification and mapping is hampered by their smooth relief. Given the difficulty of recognising these possible relict forms using traditional geomorphological techniques, two sources of information were employed in the present work: high resolution (1:15,000) aerial photographs and a digital terrain model (DTM) generated from LiDAR data. The improved definition of surface elevation enhanced the quality of geomorphological mapping as well as the accurate delineation of subtle geoforms. The method was applied to Gallocanta Lake, a highly fluctuating shallow lake 14 km2 in area and less than 3 m deep located in a mountainous semiarid area of NE Spain. As a result, a sequence of relict coastal features (RCF) with high lateral continuity has been identified around the lakebed. These include well-preserved spits with recurved hooks, counter-spits, bays closed by barrier islands, beach ridges, deltas and cliffs. The highly precise LiDAR-derived topographic maps suggest a much greater extension of the lacustrine environment during the Late Pleistocene, reaching at least 51 km2 of water surface and about 13 m of depth above the present lake bottom. The method presented in this paper generates very detailed palaeogeographical maps that are particularly useful for reconstructing lake changes in semiarid environments as a function of climate change., This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the project PCIN-2014-106 and by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) under the project i-COOP-2016SU0015.

XXII Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la Facultat de Ciències Humanes i Socials (Any 2017) El presente texto tiene como finalidad reflexionar y comprender la performatividad del diseño gráfico en proyectos para contribuir con la justicia e igualdad social, a partir de herramientas que sean innovadoras, multidisciplinario e interdisciplinarias y que respondan a las verdaderas necesidades de la sociedad. Es evidente que las formas de comunicación han ido cambiando; por ello es necesario desarrollar acciones de comunicación de orden estratégico que permitan comunicarse de forma más eficaz y viral para dar a conocer las situaciones de injusticia social a partir de la innovación comunicativa, apelando a la razón de participación para promover la igualdad. El diseño gráfico conceptualiza ideas, contribuye a reforzar y fomentar valores dentro de la vida social; la intencionalidad al diseñar debe ser pensada para la transformación y el cambio social; sin duda, el diseño tiene la capacidad de influir en la conducta del espectador, mas allá de persuadir, lo que se busca es disuadir comportamientos arraigados que no contribuyan a un bien común y de esta manera propiciar que el cambio provenga de la convicción de los individuos y no de la imposición.

30 Pags.- 3 Tabls.- 5 Figs. The definitive version is available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03418162, In arid and semiarid environments, saline wetlands are both high-value habitats threatened by landscape transformations, and a constraint to agricultural production. There is a lack of knowledge about nutrients distribution in intermittently flooded environments subjected to soil and water salinity. The aim of this work was to characterize soil and plant nutrient status along soil transects at the interface between agricultural land and saline wetlands. These aspects were studied in Guallar and Gallocanta, two Ramsar saline wetlands in NE Spain that represent arid and semiarid conditions, respectively. Soils were characterized for nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) status; crop and natural vegetation nutrient status was measured with P Nutrition Index (PNI) and Nitrogen Nutrition Index (NNI). Soil salinity (EC1:5) increases towards the halophyte areas, reaching 5.4 dS m−1 in Guallar and 3.7 dS m−1 in Gallocanta. On average, the soils are loams or sandy loams. Carbonate-rich soils are common (39% mean calcium carbonate equivalent) and some soils in Guallar have a high gypsum content (up to 72%). The soils have a low to moderate cation exchange capacity regardless of soil salinity, with a maximum of 14 cmol+ kg−1 in the soil with the highest organic matter content (3.8%). Overall, cereal soils show total P and N contents within the normal range for agricultural soils, although the available P is above the requirements for cereals, up to 67 mg kg−1. The difference in soil nutrients between cropped and halophyte land is more noticeable when it comes to total and available P content than for N levels. The relatively high nutrient content in some halophyte soils and the total and available P gradients along the soil transects, reflect downslope nutrient movement towards the lake. Halophyte soils can accumulate between 11% and 71% of the available P found in cropped soils. No relationship was found between the soil nutrient content and that of plants, nor between these two parameters and soil salinity. NNI and PNI indicate non-limiting nutrient status for cereals grown in Gallocanta and nutrient limitation in Guallar, probably related to the high gypsum content, and/or soil salinity. Studying the plant available nutrient content in arid and saline soils, at the interface between halophytes and crops, is crucial for improving land management strategies and reconciling production and conservation in protected saline habitats., This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIIN) under the Project PCI2018-092999. E. Luna was financed by the fellowship B087/13 from the Government of Aragón, Spain.

Summary Arid soil is common worldwide and has unique properties that often limit agronomic productivity, specifically, salinity expressed as soluble salts and large amounts of calcium carbonate and gypsum. Currently, the most common methods for evaluating these properties in soil are laboratory-based techniques such as titration, gasometry and electrical conductivity. In this research, we used two proximal sensors (portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) and visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (Vis–NIR DRS)) to scan a diverse set (n = 116) of samples from arid soil in Spain. Then, samples were processed by standard laboratory procedures and the two datasets were compared with advanced statistical techniques. The latter included penalized spline regression (PSR), support vector regression (SVR) and random forest (RF) analysis, which were applied to Vis–NIR DRS data, PXRF data and PXRF and Vis–NIR DRS data, respectively. Independent validation (30% of the data) of the calibration equations showed that PSR + RF predicted gypsum with a ratio of performance to interquartile distance (RPIQ) of 5.90 and residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 4.60, electrical conductivity (1:5 soil : water) with RPIQ of 3.14 and RPD of 2.10, Ca content with RPIQ of 2.92 and RPD of 2.07 and calcium carbonate equivalent with RPIQ of 2.13 and RPD of 1.74. The combined PXRF and Vis–NIR DRS approach was superior to those that use data from a single proximal sensor, enabling the prediction of several properties from two simple, rapid, non-destructive scans.