Non-destructive Assessment of Water and Pigments in Leaves from the Remission Function using the Kubelka-Munk Theory

CORDON, G. B.; GISMONDI, S.; NIEVAS, A. V.; LAGORIO, M. G.

Proceedings of the International Color Association

International Colour Association

Lugar: Mar del Plata; Año: 2010 p. 397 - 400

0280-2198

Correlations between light reflectance of leaves and their pigments content are relevant in developing non-destructive methods that allow remote sensing of vegetation. In the present work, the applicability of the Kubelka-Munk theory and the Pile of Plates model in plant leaves was confirmed and it was further used to elaborate a methodology for the determination of their pigments and water concentration. Several leaves from different species: Hedera helix, Liquidambar styraciflua, Populus alba, Rosa sp., Gardenia jasminoides, Schefflera arboricola, Aloysia triphylla and Ficus benjamina were selected. Chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b were quantitatively determined in the leaves by solvent extraction and subsequent spectrophotometric determination. On the other hand, reflectance and transmittance spectra were recorded for the studied species in the UV-visible range and in the near infra-red region. The remission function, a quantity proportional to the chromophore concentration in solid samples, was calculated from reflectance measurements using the Kubelka-Munk theory. Optical parameters of leaves such as the light absorption (k) and the light scattering (s) coefficients were also estimated from transmittance and reflectance data using the Pile of Plates model. The correlations developed in this study allow the direct determination of chlorophylls and water in intact leaves by measuring reflectance and transmittance spectra.