How the optical properties of leaves modify the absorption and scattering of energy and enhance leaf functionality

Abstract

Leaves absorb, scatter, and transmit sunlight at all wavelengths across the visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared spectrum. The optical properties of a leaf are determined by its biochemical and biophysical characteristics, including its 3-D cellular organization. The absorption and scattering properties of leaves together create the shape of their reflectance spectra. Terrestrial seed plant species share similar physiological and metabolic processes for fluxes of gases (CO2, O2, H2O), nutrients, and energy, while differences are primarily consequences of how these properties are distributed and their physical structures. Related species generally share biochemical and biophysical traits, and their optical properties are also similar, providing a mechanism for identification. However, it is often the minor differences in spectral properties throughout the wavelengths of the solar spectrum that define a species or groups of related species. This chapter provides a review and summary of the most common interactions between leaf properties and light and the physical processes that regulate the outcomes of these interactions.