Modeling the relationships between Munsell soil color and soil spectral properties

Abstract

A new approach to the relationships between soil color and soil spectral properties is studied using colorimetric concepts. Spectral reflectance of 84 highty varied soil samples was determined in the laboratory with a spectrophotometer. Colors were also visually estimated using Munsell soil color charts. The comparison between chromaticity coordinates computed from the spectral reflectance curves, and Munsell color converted into the same coordinates, showed good agreement. Thus, the color aspect of a soil sample can be predicted from its spectral reflectance. Usually the reverse is not true, as two objects with the same color aspect may have different reflectance curves. This phenomenon, known as metamerism, was observed only once among our soil samRlss. This allowed us to use a multiple linear regression model to predict the visible reflectance curve from the Munsell color. With these results, soil spectral properties can be estimated from colors noted in the field. This has numerous applications in remote sensing.