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Approximately 13 per cent of the world's terrestrial surface can be classified as tropical rainforest. This type of forest generally occurs near the equator, in a belt between 23.5° north latitude and 23.5° south latitude. They may be found in northern Queensland, in Australia, Brazil's Amazon basin, central Africa, Central America, the western coast of India and South-East Asia.
The global distribution of tropical rainforests is largely determined by high temperatures and high levels of moisture. In the tropics, there are no marked seasons and the daylight period is fairly consistent throughout the year. Mean monthly temperatures range between 25°C and 35°C (77°F–95°F). The annual rainfall usually exceeds 2000mm (78 in.), and in some areas can be as high as 4000mm (156 in.).
The soil mantle of tropical rainforests is very thin, nutrient-poor and acidic. Decomposition is rapid and soils are subject to heavy leaching.
The flora in tropical rainforests is extremely diverse: plants such as orchids, bromeliads, lianas, ferns, mosses, and palms may be present, as well as trees.
Trees are typically 25–35m (82–115 ft) tall, with buttressed trunks and shallow roots. Although the trees themselves are not evergreens, they nevertheless retain their leaves throughout the year because temperature and precipitation are high enough to permit continuous growth. These trees develop their own rhythms for flowering, fruiting and shedding leaves. The canopy is multilayered and continuous, for which reason there is usually very little understorey vegetation.
Almost all Roggenwolf digital camouflage patterns can be adapted for deployment in tropical rainforests. The most successful are those in which the macropattern is omnidirectional with a bias toward vertically-aligned elements, which further disrupt the geometry of the human shape at longer ranges by blending with the dominant pattern of shadows in wooded terrain. Strong contrasts may also be used, to simulate the perception of different layers in space.
Still, a well-devised macropattern can do only so much; the choice and arrangement of colours is also important. If the colours displayed in a camouflage pattern differ too much from the colours present in the immediate surroundings, the target shape can still be discerned and successful recognition shall occur.
Appropriate colours help a camouflage pattern to blend with its surroundings. In some cases, the colours displayed in Roggenwolf temperate forest digital camouflage patterns have been derived from computer-aided analyses of colour satellite photographs; the Tropical 6.1 palette is illustrated on this page. Alternatively, more localised palettes may be created, to match specific tactical settings, through computer-aided analyses of ground-level photographs.
notice: All materials, including photos, camouflage patterns, simulations and text embodied within the pages of this Web site are the property of their respective copyright holders and may not be used elsewhere without explicit written permission from the copyright holder.
All original camouflage patterns and simulations shown on this Web site are copyright © 2005–2006
[ Brad Turner ]. All rights reserved.
