The UAE soils are formed from 2 orders called Ardisols and Entisols. These 2 orders in turn are broken down into 6 suborders, 10 great groups, 41 sub-groups and 74 series found in the UAE.

Strongly saline/very strongly saline
Found in coastal and inland salt flats
Groundwater is within 1 meter from the surface of the soil
High salinity makes these soils dry
Textures are mostly loamy or sandy
Has a high salt content

Aquisalids cover 218,186 hectares, or about 3% of the UAE.

Combination of both calcium carbonate and equivalents (calcic horizon) and gypsum-(gypsic horizon) within 1 meter from the surface of the soil
Most of these soils are sandy and have little suitability for irrigated agriculture due to their high soil gypsum contents

Calcigypsids cover 14,181 hectares, or about 0.2% of the UAE.

Includes calcium carbonate and equivalents within 1 meter from the soil surface (calcic horizon)
Textures are sandy or loamy
Haplocalcids have a moderate potential for irrigated agriculture being limited by the sandy nature of the soils.

Haplocalcids cover 118,861 hectares or about 1.7% of the UAE.

Loamy subsoil horizon
Structure and/or color in the form of a cambic horizon
Doesn't have a sufficient accumulation of calcium carbonate and equivalents or gypsum to have either a calcic or gypsic horizon
Haplocambids are highly suitable for irrigated agriculture.

Haplocambids cover 13,803 hectares, or about 0.2% of the UAE.

Have an accumulation of gypsum within 1 meter from the soil surface (gypsic horizon) Has sandy texture, but a few are loamy
Has limited suitability for irrigated agriculture due to high gypsum contents and limited soil depth.

Haplogypsids cover 71,764 hectares, or about 1.0% of the UAE.

Has a subsoil horizon within 1 meter from the soil surface that has accumulated so much calcium carbonate over time that it has become cemented (petrocalcic horizon), forming a hardpan
Most of these soils have a sandy texture Petrocalcids have limited suitability for irrigated agriculture due to the depth of the hardpan.

Petrocalcids cover 2,196 hectares, or less than 0.1% of the UAE.

Has a subsoil horizon within 1 meter from the soil surface that has accumulated so much gypsum over time that it has become cemented (petrogypsic horizon), forming a hardpan
Most of the Petrogypsids have a sandy, but a few have a loamy texture
Petrogypsids have little potential for irrigated agriculture due to the limited depth of soil to the hardpan and soil gypsum content.

Petrogypsids cover 263,388 hectares, or about 3.8% of the UAE.

Dominated by wind-borne sands on dunes and sand sheets
A few of the soils are alluvial sands with little or no gravel
Torripsamments are the most extensive soils in the UAE
They have a range of suitability for irrigated agriculture depending on the nature of the landform
Low dunes, sand plains and sand sheets are considered moderately suitable for agriculture Their suitability typically declines as the height and frequency increase.

Torripsamments make up 5,261,812 hectares, or 75.0% of the UAE.