Spectral and spectral-polarization characteristics of potato leaves

The results of laboratory investigations of the spectral and spectral-polarization characteristics of radiation reflected from the leaves of potato(Solanum tuberosum) of different varieties are discussed. During the vegetation season of 1997, the angular dependence of the degree and azimuth of polarization of radiation reflected from potato leaves as well as the scattering indicatrices in the range 380–1080 nm were determined by a specially developed method with the use of a laboratory goniometric setup. The relationship between the spectral polarization characteristics of radiation and biological parameters of the potato has been obtained with the help of different methods of statistical analysis and explained on the basis of the known physical mechanisms. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii. Vol. 67, No. 4, pp. 524–529, July–August, 2000.