Radiative Properties of the Skin and Haircoat of Cattle and Other Animals

Radiative properties (reflectance . , transmittance ., and absorptance .) were determined for wavelengths from300 to 850 nm in the haircoat and the skin of water buffalo, deer (Pantanal deer, Blastocerus dichotomus), and cattle of theHolstein, Simmental, Canchim, Brangus, and Nelore breeds. The results showed that white hairs have higher . (0.60 to 0.67)than the other coat colors, but the gray coats (mixed white and dark hair) of the Nelore cattle presented higher . than thatof the white coats of the European breeds at wavelengths lower than 600 nm. The light gray colored skin of the Canchim cattlehad higher . (0.66) than the nonpigmented skin of Holstein (0.53). Red skins presented . values higher than those of darkgray and black skins. Buffalo skin (dark gray) presented an average . of 0.23 .0.02 and . of 0.77 .0.02. The red haircoatof the deer presented . lower (0.37) than that of cattle of the same color (0.58). However, there was little difference betweendeer and cattle with respect to reflectance and absorptance of the skin. As for the spectral transmittance of the skin, it wasvery low and about the same for both species, until 600 nm. In the range 600 to 850 nm, the . values for cattle rose to 0.17,while those for deer increased only to 0.12.