The most common method for in situ assessment of soil salinity, namely the electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil solution (EC w ), is to measure the apparent electrical conductivity (EC a ) and volumetric water content (ΞΈ) of the soil and apply measured or predicted EC a (EC w , ΞΈ) calibration curves. The water content and electrical conductivity of a soil solution are indeed the major factors affecting its apparent electrical conductivity, which justifies the assessment of salinity from apparent EC measurements. However, the EC a (EC w , ΞΈ) relationship depends on some additional soil and environmental attributes affecting the soil EC a . Non-spherical particle shapes and a broad particle-size distribution tend to decrease EC a , and when non-spherical particles have some preferential alignment in space, the soil becomes anisotropic, i.e., its EC a depends on the direction in which it is measured. The electrical conductance of adsorbed counterions constitutes a major contribution to the EC a of medium-and fine-textured soils, especially under conditions of low solution conductivity. In such soils and with such salinity levels, the temperature response of the soil EC a should be stronger than that of its free solution, and care should be taken when extrapolating from field-measured EC a values to obtain the EC a at a given temperature. The above-mentioned and other secondary findings should, on one hand, indicate some limitations for the application of existing EC a -EC w models, and, on the other hand, can serve as guidelines for further development of such essential models.