Abstract

A transparent plate with rough plane-parallel surfaces is used as a theoretical model to explain the interaction of diffuse light with a compact plant leaf. Effective optical constants of a corn leaf have been determined from leaf reflectance and transmittance measured over the spectral range 0.5–2.5 μ with a recording spectrophotometer. The effective index of refraction at 0.5 μ for the corn leaf is not inconsistent with the refractive index of epicuticular wax. The effective absorption spectra of the corn leaf appears to be a superposition of the absorption coefficients of chlorophyll and pure liquid water. Residual spectral data from other leaf constituents are at the resolution limit of the spectrophotometer. The plate model of a leaf is also used to determine moisture content of the corn leaf from reflectance and transmittance measurements.

© 1969 Optical Society of America

Interaction of Light with a Plant Canopy*

William A. Allen and Arthur J. Richardson
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 58(8) 1023-1028 (1968)

Mean Effective Optical Constants of Cotton Leaves*

William A. Allen, Harold W. Gausman, and Arthur J. Richardson
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 60(4) 542-547 (1970)

Relation of Light Reflectance to Histological and Physical Evaluations of Cotton Leaf Maturity

H. W. Gausman, W. A. Allen, R. Cardenas, and A. J. Richardson
Appl. Opt. 9(3) 545-552 (1970)

Plant-Canopy Irradiance Specified by the Duntley Equations

WILLIAM A. ALLEN, T. VINCENT GAYLE, and ARTHUR J. RICHARDSON
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 60(3) 372-376 (1970)

Mean Effective Optical Constants of Thirteen Kinds of Plant Leaves

W. A. Allen, H. W. Gausman, A. J. Richardson, and C. L. Wiegand
Appl. Opt. 9(11) 2573-2577 (1970)