Spectrometer revolutionises colour measurement

Edited by the Laboratorytalk editorial team Nov 26, 2002

Colour measurement system has proved a spectacular success measuring the colour bands in core soil samples at Cambridge University's Physical Geography Laboratories

StellarNet UK has launched the EPP2000C colour measurement system that meets the needs of all laboratories wanting accurate, reliable results at low cost.

Small and portable, the EPP2000C has already proved a spectacular success with the Physical Geography Laboratories at the University of Cambridge, where it measures the colour bands in core soil samples.

Accurate values for the lightness and the colour of sediments deposited thousands of years ago allow scientists to investigate rapid changes in the Earth's past climate.

They can also make comparisons with present-day changes, which environmentalists attribute to human activity.

"The advent of compact affordable optical spectrometers, which interface directly with a personal computer, has revolutionised colour measurement in the laboratory," said Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group laboratory manager Steve Boreham.

"For the first time, colour can be logged along a core in real time, with the quantitative data exported directly to a spreadsheet.

This has transformed colour measurement into a quick and easy routine non-destructive analytical technique." "This apparatus offers the convenience of being able to measure in ambient light conditions, and easily handles the large and awkward shape of core samples," he said.

"I would recommend this piece of kit to anyone needing to quickly and accurately measure the colour of soils or sediments." The EPP2000C should prove attractive to all laboratories because it is the lowest priced colour measurement instrument with a grating monochromator.

Its CCD detector provides real-time wavelength scanning without any moving parts, and the SpectraWiz software package is included in the price.

In addition, the modular design of the EPP2000C means that laboratories can customise the hardware to suit their own applications, and its reflectance probes are ideal for difficult locations or small samples.