Abstract

The spectral reflectance of natural objects is taken from Krinov’s measurements. Based on these data, the color parameters are computed for these objects. It is shown that most natural objects possess a dominant wavelength between 5700 A and 5900 A, i.e., in the greenish yellow part of the spectrum. Even for vegetative formations, as seen from a distance, the dominant wavelength is also in the greenish yellow spectral range, which is a surprising fact because one would expect a dominant green. This color is, however, a mixture of brown and green. The excitation purity of bare areas and soils is low (15–30%), but it is higher for vegatative formations (25–50%). Vertical formations such as forests seen from directly above, reflect only a very small amount (2–3%) of the light which falls upon them from the sun and sky, but as seen from the ground their reflectance is much higher (about 8%).

© 1956 Optical Society of America

The Colors of Natural Objects and Terrains, and Their Relation to Visual Color Deficiency*

Charles D. Hendley and Selig Hecht
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 39(10) 870-873 (1949)

Color changes in objects in natural scenes as a function of observation distance and weather conditions

Javier Romero, Raúl Luzón-González, Juan L. Nieves, and Javier Hernández-Andrés
Appl. Opt. 50(28) F112-F120 (2011)

Object color naturalness and attractiveness with spectrally optimized illumination

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Theoretical Investigation of Colored Lenses for Snow Goggles*

Günter Wyszecki
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 46(12) 1071-1074 (1956)

Memory Colors of Familiar Objects*

C. J. Bartleson
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 50(1) 73-77 (1960)