The Color of Dirt

Crumby may need to perform some wetland delineations anon. So Crumby got to wondering, Would pictures of the dirt be useful? The short answer is, Course they would. And with the newer model cameras having olfactory sensibility built in, an average wetland identifier could even do A4, the H2S indicator from a picture. This assumes a native sense of smell not corrupted by allergy or accident.

However, sadly, one would still need to dig up the dirt, plus actually feel the dirt up. And digging up dirt with a billdukey is hard work. Too hard. Yuck! What a troubling aspect. Here is your average wetland delineator mucking around in the muck. Yuck! Then that same individual needs to take pictures. But his or her weary hands are dirty. What then? What then?

Well. Sometimes there is water to wash your hands with, handy, in a wetland. The water is also like, a clue. So go ahead and wash all the dirty mud off your hands before you pick up your expensive dslr. Oh my Goddess! I accidentally picked up my camera while my hands were still muddy. Oh my Goddess! Oh my Goddess!

But all the nonsense aside, could you maybe almost do field testing of the dirt, remotely, from the pictures. Maybe. But your biggest problem might turn out to be your camera’s ability to do White Balance. That’s because dirt colors are so important, dirt has its own Color Chart. Yes. Dirt has the Munsel Soil Color Chart which the average delineator may employ to figure out the Color of Dirt.

OK. Many of you viewing at home may wish to go find your Munsell. Then you can check the colors on your Munsel chart page against those on your monitor. Is it close enough for private sector work? Did you factor in nepotism and cronyism?