Data-Driven Selection of Typical Opaque Material Reflectances for Lighting Simulation

ABSTRACT

Lighting simulation standards recommend default values for opaque material reflectance values, but these are varied and not based upon measured data. In response, a database of 1,288 opaque material reflectance measurements collected using spectrally specific spectrophotometer sensors is presented. The database is analyzed according to object type, material type, and color. Photopic, melanopic, and wavelength-specific median reflectance data are presented alongside interquartile ranges which allow the reader to assess typical reflectance values and the variance of reflected light from surfaces in the built environment. The lighting materials database is included as supplemental material and has been integrated into a searchable website for use by the lighting simulation public.

KEYWORDS:

• Measurement
• standards
• lighting simulation
• material reflectance

Acknowledgments

The author thanks all the researchers and students who have shared their measurements publicly or directly with me. They are listed here in alphabetical order: Priji Balakrishnan, Caroline, Andrew Glassner, Nathaniel Jones, Kate Kazimowicz, Zhe Kong, Lee Hui Ling Alexandra, Timothy Lum, Kevin Josiah Neo, Clotilde Pierson, Geraldine Quek, Thanyalak Srisamranrungruang, Mike Vrhel, Greg Ward, and Matthew Wong. In addition, I thank the two anonymous reviewers and the editor, Kevin Houser, whose comments greatly improved this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Data availability statement

The data that supports the findings of this study is available in Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository at the following location https://doi.org/10.5683/SP2/76Q6JY, and a searchable version is available at http://spectraldb.com/

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.