Premium
Polarized and specular reflectance variation with leaf surface features
Author(s) -
Grant Lois,
Daughtry C.S.T.,
Vanderbilt V.C.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1993.tb01753.x
Subject(s) - specular reflection , diffuse reflection , optics , reflectivity , polarization (electrochemistry) , materials science , wavelength , scattering , photometer , brewster's angle , brewster , chemistry , physics
The linearly polarized reflectance from a leaf depends on the characteristics of the leaf surface. In the present study the leaf reflectance of a number of plant species with varying surface characteristics was measured at the Brewster angle with a polarization photometer having 5 visible and near‐infrared wavelength bands. We found that all leaf surfaces polarized incident light. Differences among species could be explained by variation in surface features. The results support our hypothesis that the polarized light is reflected by the leaf surface, not by its interior. Two mechanisms appeared responsible for the linearly polarized reflectance: (1) specular reflectance and (2) surface particle scattering. In most cases, large values of linearly polarized reflectance could be attributed to specular reflectance from the leaf surface. Attribution required knowledge of the optical dimensions of features on the leaf surface.