Using Leaf Samples to Establish a Library of Tropical Leaf Fingerprints

Variation in leaf chemistry is directly expressed in spectroscopic patterns of tropical canopies. The goal of the Spectranomics project is to explore this variation in the hopes of developing a method to measure tropical forest diversity remotely from airborne or space-bound spectroscopy in the future. We analyzed tomato leaves for various chemical compositions to better understand the Spectranomics approach to quantifying chemical data of tropical species. We also compared our data to standard data in each analysis. Our results allow us to give the tomato leaves a chemical signature in which we are able to use to compare to other leaf samples. Using this process, we are able to create a library of leaf signatures and document the variety of tree species in tropical forests around the world.