Abstract
The coastal plain of Thua Thien Hue province covers an area of 1,080 km2, which is vulnerable to soil salinization due to significant impacts of climate change. In this study area highly vulnerable to soil salinization, saline soil occupies the area of about 6,290 hectares, is scatteredly distributed and tends to increase. To assess and map the risk levels of soil salinization, the authors chose 09 criteria, including: annual average rainfall, annual average temperature, annual average evaporation, annual average sunshine hours, number of months of dry season, soil type, vegetation cover, density of river network, submerged areas in different scenarios of sea level rise. The spatial data for determining criteria were processed by using Geographic Information System (GIS) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The study results show that the area highly vulnerable to salinization occupies about 16.4% of total area and that the coastal region of Phu Vang, Quang Dien and Phong Dien districts are the most vulnerable.