anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

reflectometry Reflectometry is a general term for the use of the reflection of waves or pulses at surfaces and interfaces to detect or characterize objects, sometimes to detect anomalies as in fault detection and medical diagnosis. There are many different ...

devices are often used to gauge

human skin color Human skin color ranges from the Dark skin, darkest brown to the Light skin, lightest hues. Differences in Human skin, skin color among individuals is caused by variation in pigmentation, which is largely the result of genetics (inherited from o ...

through the measurement of skin reflectance. These devices are typically pointed at the upper arm or forehead, with the emitted waves then interpreted at various percentages. Lower percentages represent lower skin reflectance and thus darker

pigmentation A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly insoluble and chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored substances which are soluble or go in ...

, whereas higher percentages represent greater skin reflectance and therefore lighter pigmentation. Below are global estimates of skin reflectance percentages in various countries, populations and areas as observed and predicted by Jablonski and Chaplin.

References

{{reflist Human skin color