Chemical Methods of Shade Measurement.

Abstract

The importance of light in the growth of plants has prompted many investigations into its accurate measurement (Stern, 1962). In measuring the shade offered by shade trees in tropical crops such as coffee and tea, it is desirable that a large number of simultaneous light measurements be made over a large area, and hence any method must be reasonably cheap and easy to apply. As the shade at any site varies throughout the day, any measuring device must be integrating. A set of tubes containing a photosensitive chemical satisfies these requirements.