Physical topsoil properties in Murugusi, Western Kenya

General: Lab determined topsoil bulk density, contents of sand, clay and organic carbon in Murugusi, W. Kenya, together with spatial coordinates of where the soil samples were taken (rounded to the closest center point of a 250 m × 250 m raster). All lab analyses were carried out at the ILRI/CIAT lab in Nairob, Kenya. Soil sampling: At each sample location, one composite topsoil sample was taken; three cores of 7 cm in diameter taken within an area of one square meter. The soil was taken from 0-0.2 m depth below any organic (O) horizon. Determination of soil properties: The bulk density of the soil was determined by taking two undisturbed soil samples (0-10 cm and 10-20 cm depth) of known volume (100 cm2) and weighting them after air drying. Soil fractions of clay (<0.002 mm) and sand (0.05-2 mm) were determined by the hydrometer method (Estefan et al., 2014), using 10% sodium hexametaphosphate as the dispersing agent. Soil pH was determined potentiometrically on a soil suspension of 1:2 (soil: water). Total carbon was measured after dry combustion using an elemental analyser (Elementar Vario max cube; ISO 10694, first edition 1995-03-01) Reference: Estefan G., Sommer R., Ryan J. (2014) Analytical Methods for Soil-Plant and Water in Dry Areas. A Manual of Relevance to the West Asia and North Africa Region. 3rd Edition, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Aleppo, 255 pp. Available online at: http://repo.mel.cgiar.org:8080/handle/20.500.11766/7512?show=full. Verified: October 9, 2018. Acknowledgements: We are deeply thankful for the good services provided by John Mukulama (soil sampling), John Yumbya Mutua (soil sampling) and Francis Mungthu Njenga (lab analyses) The project was carried out within the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).