Prediction of Soil Organic Carbon for Ethiopian Highlands Using Soil Spectroscopy

Table 1

Overview description of the study sites.

Sampling site	Agroecological zone*	Rainfall (mm)	Temperature range (°C)**	Dominant soil types***	Geological background
Anjeni	Wet Weyna Dega	1650	9–23 (16)	Alisols, Nitisols, Cambisols, Regosols, Acrisols, Luvisols, and Leptosols	Tertiary Basalts
Bale mountains	Dega-High Dega	870–1064	8.6–15.2 (13.1)	Andosols	Volcanic rocks with volcanic ash material
Basketo	Weyna Dega	∼1300	12.8–27.7 (18)	Nitisols and Andosols	Ignimbrites and Rhyolites
Benishangul	Weyna Dega/ Kolla	1116	9.5–34.4 (25)	Nitisols	Tertiary Gneisses and Basalts
Kersa	Dega/Weyna Dega	∼1400	∼18–25 (19)	Vertisols and Nitisols	Mostly tertiary basaltic rocks
Kolatembien	Weyna Dega	600	∼16–20 (18)	Regosols, Cambisols, and Leptosols	Antalo Limestones
Maybar	Moist Weyna Dega/moist Dega	1150	12.3–21.4 (16.4)	Phaeozems, Gleysols, Fluvisols, and Leptosols	Alkali-olive Basalts and Tuffs
Megech	Weyna Dega	700–1160	14.2–26.9 (20)	Vertisols, Fluvisols, and Cambisol	Pleistocene to recent alluvial deposits
Wondogenet	Weyna Dega	948	12.6–27.3 (19)	Luvisols, Andosols, and Nitisols	Ignimbrites, Basalts, and Tuffs

∗Hurni, 1998 [11], ∗∗the mean annual values are in the parentheses, ∗∗∗based on FAO-Unesco soil classification.