349
© The Author(s) 2020
J. Cavender-Bares et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33157-3_14
Chapter 14
How the Optical Properties of Leaves
Modify the Absorption and Scattering
of Energy and Enhance Leaf Functionality
Susan L. Ustin and Stéphane Jacquemoud
14.1 Introduction
Leaves interact with light in ways that create a spectral footprint of the terrestrial
environment of our planet. Most of the visible light penetrating the Earth’s atmosphere is absorbed by leaves, and at wavelengths around 700 nm, just beyond the
red visible bands, this pattern abruptly reverses, to reflect about half of the incoming
light from 700 to 1000 nm. This region of rapid change in reflectance is termed the
“red edge” and produces a distinct pattern in which the Earth’s albedo is brighter for
wavelengths longer than the red edge than for shorter wavelengths (Arnold et al.
2002; Montañés-Rodríguez et al. 2006). This pattern is a result of the abundance of
green leaves in the terrestrial environment absorbing light for photosynthesis, with
the red edge the manifestation of the long wavelength edge of chlorophyll pigment
absorption. This is one example of how leaf optical properties (the absorption and
scattering of different wavelengths of sunlight) permit detection of leaf functional
properties.
Because the primary physiological processes and functional properties of seed
plants are homologous, evolutionary constraints have optimized physiological properties (Jacquemoud and Ustin 2008; Ustin and Gamon 2010). This means that among
higher plant species, concentrations of individual biochemicals in the suite of major
biochemicals may vary. So considering overall biochemical traits, different species
S. L. Ustin (*)
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis,
Davis, CA, USA
e-mail: slustin@ucdavis.edu
S. Jacquemoud
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris – Sorbonne Paris Cité, 8 Université of Paris Diderot,
Paris, France
e-mail: jacquemoud@ipgp.jussieu.fr
© The Author(s) 2020
J. Cavender-Bares et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33157-3_14
Chapter 14
How the Optical Properties of Leaves
Modify the Absorption and Scattering
of Energy and Enhance Leaf Functionality
Susan L. Ustin and Stéphane Jacquemoud
14.1 Introduction
Leaves interact with light in ways that create a spectral footprint of the terrestrial
environment of our planet. Most of the visible light penetrating the Earth’s atmosphere is absorbed by leaves, and at wavelengths around 700 nm, just beyond the
red visible bands, this pattern abruptly reverses, to reflect about half of the incoming
light from 700 to 1000 nm. This region of rapid change in reflectance is termed the
“red edge” and produces a distinct pattern in which the Earth’s albedo is brighter for
wavelengths longer than the red edge than for shorter wavelengths (Arnold et al.
2002; Montañés-Rodríguez et al. 2006). This pattern is a result of the abundance of
green leaves in the terrestrial environment absorbing light for photosynthesis, with
the red edge the manifestation of the long wavelength edge of chlorophyll pigment
absorption. This is one example of how leaf optical properties (the absorption and
scattering of different wavelengths of sunlight) permit detection of leaf functional
properties.
Because the primary physiological processes and functional properties of seed
plants are homologous, evolutionary constraints have optimized physiological properties (Jacquemoud and Ustin 2008; Ustin and Gamon 2010). This means that among
higher plant species, concentrations of individual biochemicals in the suite of major
biochemicals may vary. So considering overall biochemical traits, different species
S. L. Ustin (*)
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis,
Davis, CA, USA
e-mail: slustin@ucdavis.edu
S. Jacquemoud
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris – Sorbonne Paris Cité, 8 Université of Paris Diderot,
Paris, France
e-mail: jacquemoud@ipgp.jussieu.fr