What is the HEX code of a Munsell soil color?

Type the notation, such as 10YR 3/2, into the converter at the top or find it in the tables: 10YR 3/2 is about #544535 and 10YR 4/6 about #7F5921 on a standard sRGB screen. The values are computed from the Munsell renotation data, the values that define each notation, so they are screen approximations rather than official values.

Why does the screen color not match my Munsell soil book?

The chips in the book are painted samples made to match each notation, and they are viewed in daylight; a screen emits light and every monitor shows the same HEX a little differently. Use this chart to read, record and compare notations, not to determine soil color. For a field description, compare the soil with the physical chips in daylight.

Should I record moist or dry soil color?

They differ: moist soil is usually darker than the same soil dry. Soil descriptions often record both, or the moist color, and should say which one was measured. The chart gives the color of the notation itself, whichever condition you recorded.

Can I find the Munsell soil color from a photo?

Only roughly. Light, camera and white balance shift the color more than one step of the chart, and studies with smartphone cameras found unadjusted photos rarely give the right chip. The «Color to closest notation» tool accepts any color, but treat the answer as a hint and confirm it with the book.

Which hues are included?

The hue pages from 5R to 5Y, the 10Y and 5GY pages, and neutral N, at value 2, 2.5 and 3 to 8 and chroma 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8. Every combination of these steps that the renotation data reach is shown, which is more than any single printed page holds. 21 of the darkest, strongest cells come from the part of the data that RIT extrapolated beyond the colors of the visual experiment, so they are rougher estimates. The Gley pages and the very light 8.5–9.5 values are not included.

Munsell Soil Color Chart

Munsell soil notations with their colors on screen: HEX and RGB for every hue, value and chroma from 5R to 5GY. Type a notation such as 10YR 3/2, or find the notation closest to a color. These are screen approximations of the notations, not a replacement for the printed chips.

Notation to HEX

Munsell notation: hue, then value/chroma, for example 10YR 3/2, 7.5YR 5/4 or N 5/

#544535

Click to copy

HEX

#544535

RGB

rgb(84, 69, 53)

Screen approximation of 10YR 3/2, not the printed chip.

Color to closest notation

7.5YR 4/6#845628ΔE 1.9 · Good
7.5YR 4/8#8B530FΔE 4.2 · Approximate
5YR 4/6#88532FΔE 4.3 · Approximate

A color from a photo is only a hint: light, camera and moisture change it more than one step of the chart.

The chart by hue

Rows are value (lightness), columns are chroma (strength). Each cell shows the HEX code without the #. A star marks colors more saturated than a screen can show; their HEX is the nearest screen color. 21 of the darkest, strongest cells rest on renotation data that RIT extrapolated beyond the colors of the visual experiment (value 2 to 3, chroma 6 and 8); the lookup above says so for each.

5R
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	CFC6C5	D6C4C2	E0C1BE	EABDB9	FBB7B1	FFAFA8*
7	B6ABAA	BEA9A7	C6A6A3	CFA39F	DF9D98	EE9590
6	9C9190	A48E8D	AD8C89	B58986	C4827E	D17B77
5	827776	8A7573	937170	9B6E6C	AA6765	B7605E
4	6A5D5D	725A59	7A5756	825452	8F4D4C	9B4545
3	524444	5A4141	623E3E	693A3B	743335	802830
2.5	463939	4E3637	553235	5B2F33	66272F	721A2B
2	3A2E2F	412B2D	47282C	4D252A	571D28	620E25

7.5R
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	CFC6C4	D6C4C0	E1C1BA	ECBDB4	FDB7A9	FFB09D*
7	B6ABA9	BEA9A5	C8A6A0	D0A39B	E09D91	F09685
6	9C918F	A58E8B	AD8C86	B58981	C48378	D27C6E
5	827775	8B7571	93716D	9B6E68	AA685E	B76154
4	6A5D5C	735A58	7B5753	82544F	8F4D46	9B463D
3	524443	5B413F	623E3B	693B37	74342F	7F2A27
2.5	463938	4E3635	553332	5B2F2E	662828	711C22
2	3A2E2E	412B2B	472829	4D2526	571D21	61101C

10R
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	D0C6C3	D7C4BE	E2C1B6	ECBEAE	FDB8A0	FFB190*
7	B6ABA8	BFA9A2	C8A69C	D0A395	E09E88	EF9779
6	9D918E	A58E88	AE8C82	B6897B	C4846F	D17D62
5	837774	8B756F	947269	9B6F62	A96955	B66248
4	6A5D5B	735B55	7B584F	82554A	8E4F3E	9A4832
3	524542	5A423D	613F38	683C33	733529	7E2C1E
2.5	463937	4E3633	55332E	5B302A	662921	701E18
2	3A2E2D	412B29	472925	4D2521	571E1A	611212

2.5YR
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	D0C6C1	D8C4BB	E2C1B1	ECBEA8	FBB998	FFB485*
7	B7ABA6	BFA99F	C8A798	D0A490	DF9F7F	EC9A6F
6	9D918C	A68F85	AE8C7E	B58A76	C38567	CF8057
5	837773	8B756C	937265	9A705E	A76B4E	B3653D
4	6A5D59	725B52	7A584B	815644	8C5136	964B26
3	514541	59423B	604035	663D2E	713820	79320F
2.5	453936	4D3730	54342B	5A3125	642B18	6D2305
2	392E2C	402C27	472922	4C261D	562011	5F1700

5YR
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	D1C6BF	D9C4B6	E1C2AC	E9C0A2	F7BC90	FFB77A*
7	B7ABA5	BFA99C	C7A793	CEA58A	DBA177	E69D64
6	9D918B	A58F82	AC8D7A	B38B71	C0875E	CA834B
5	837771	8A7569	927361	987158	A46D46	AE6931
4	6A5E58	715C4F	795947	7F573F	88532F	904F1B
3	514540	584338	5E4132	633F2A	6D3B19	743700
2.5	453A35	4C372E	523527	573320	602E0C	682900*
2	392F2B	3F2D25	452A1E	4A2817	522303	5A1D00*

7.5YR
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	D0C6BD	D8C5B3	DFC3A8	E6C29E	F3BE89	FEBB71
7	B6ACA3	BEAA99	C5A88F	CBA785	D7A470	E1A15A
6	9C928A	A49080	AA8E76	B18D6D	BC8958	C58641
5	827870	897667	90745E	967354	A16F3F	A96C27
4	695E57	705C4D	775A44	7C593A	845628	8B530F
3	50463F	574437	5C422F	604126	683E11	6E3B00*
2.5	443A34	4A382C	503724	54351B	5C3100	622E00*
2	382F2A	3E2D23	432C1B	472A12	4E2700*	542400*

10YR
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	CFC7BC	D6C6AF	DCC5A4	E2C498	ECC181	F5BF68
7	B5ACA2	BCAB96	C2AA8B	C7A97F	D1A768	D9A450
6	9B9288	A1917D	A79072	AC8F67	B68C50	BE8A36
5	81786F	877764	8D765A	92744F	9B7237	A2701B
4	685F56	6E5D4B	735C41	785B36	7F5921	845700
3	4F463E	544535	59442C	5D4322	634008	683F00*
2.5	433A33	48392A	4D3821	513716	573400*	5C3200*
2	373029	3C2E21	402D18	442C0D	4A2900*	4E2800*

2.5Y
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	CEC7BA	D3C7AC	D8C6A0	DDC694	E5C47B	EDC361
7	B3ADA0	B9AC93	BEAC88	C3AB7C	CBA963	D1A848
6	999387	9E927A	A3916F	A89163	B08F4A	B68E2D
5	80796E	857862	8A7757	8E774B	957530	9A740F
4	665F55	6B5F49	705E3F	735D33	795C1B	7D5A00*
3	4D473E	514634	55452A	59451F	5E4301	624200*
2.5	413B33	453A29	49391F	4D3912	533700*	573500*
2	363028	3A2F20	3D2E16	402E07	462C00*	4A2A00*

5Y
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	CCC8B9	D0C8AB	D3C89E	D6C891	DCC876	E2C759
7	B2ADA0	B6AD92	B9AD85	BCAD78	C2AD5E	C7AC41
6	989386	9B9379	9F936D	A29361	A89245	AD9124
5	7E796D	817961	857955	887948	8E782C	927702
4	646054	686049	6C5F3D	6F5F30	735E15	765E00*
3	4B473E	4F4733	524729	54461E	594500*	5C4500*
2.5	403C32	433B29	463B1E	493A0F	4D3A00*
2	343028	37301F	3A3014	3D2F04	412E00*

10Y
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	CAC9B9	CBCAAA	CDCA9D	CECB90	D0CC74	D2CD57
7	AFAEA0	B0AF92	B2B085	B3B078	B5B15D	B7B23D
6	959486	969579	98956D	999660	9A9743	9C971F
5	7B7A6E	7C7B62	7D7B55	7E7C48	807D2A	817D00*
4	616155	626149	64623D	656230	666312	676300*
3	49483E	4A4934	4B4929	4B491D	4C4A00*	4D4A00*
2.5	3D3C33	3E3D2A	3F3D1E	403E10	403E00*
2	323129	333221	333216	343205	353300*

5GY
Value	/1	/2	/3	/4	/6	/8
8	C6CABA	C5CBAC	C3CDA1	C2CE95	BED17D	BAD364
7	ACAFA1	AAB194	A8B289	A6B47E	A2B667	9EB84D
6	919588	8F977C	8D9872	8C9967	889C4F	839E32
5	777B6F	767C65	747E5B	727F50	6D8138	698318
4	5E6257	5C634D	5A6443	586538	536821	4F6900*
3	464940	444A38	414B2F	3F4C25	3B4E0C	355000*
2.5	3A3D35	383E2E	363F25	33411B	2D4300*	264500*
2	2F322B	2E3325	2B341C	293513	223700*	1B3900*

Neutral N
Value	/0
8	C8C8C8
7	ADADAD
6	939393
5	797979
4	606060
3	484848
2.5	3C3C3C
2	313131

How the colors are computed

A Munsell notation names a color by hue (10YR is yellow-red), value (lightness, 0 to 10) and chroma (strength). Each notation is defined by the Munsell renotation data of 1943, values set by a large visual experiment and published by the Munsell Color Science Laboratory at RIT. This page takes those values, interpolates the steps the data lack (value 2.5, chroma 1 and 3), adapts them from illuminant C to the D65 white of screens and converts them to sRGB with the colour-science library.

A second, independent calculation from the same data (the R package aqp, used in soil science) agrees within ΔE 1 for 96% of the soil colors compared, under the common rule of thumb for the smallest difference people notice side by side. The largest difference, ΔE 3, is at very pale reds. Colors outside the sRGB range of screens are marked rather than silently changed.

Other color tools

For every screen format of a color see the color converter; for paint and powder coating colors, the RAL color chart.

Munsell soil colors: questions

What is the HEX code of a Munsell soil color?: Type the notation, such as 10YR 3/2, into the converter at the top or find it in the tables: 10YR 3/2 is about #544535 and 10YR 4/6 about #7F5921 on a standard sRGB screen. The values are computed from the Munsell renotation data, the values that define each notation, so they are screen approximations rather than official values.
Why does the screen color not match my Munsell soil book?: The chips in the book are painted samples made to match each notation, and they are viewed in daylight; a screen emits light and every monitor shows the same HEX a little differently. Use this chart to read, record and compare notations, not to determine soil color. For a field description, compare the soil with the physical chips in daylight.
Should I record moist or dry soil color?: They differ: moist soil is usually darker than the same soil dry. Soil descriptions often record both, or the moist color, and should say which one was measured. The chart gives the color of the notation itself, whichever condition you recorded.
Can I find the Munsell soil color from a photo?: Only roughly. Light, camera and white balance shift the color more than one step of the chart, and studies with smartphone cameras found unadjusted photos rarely give the right chip. The «Color to closest notation» tool accepts any color, but treat the answer as a hint and confirm it with the book.
Which hues are included?: The hue pages from 5R to 5Y, the 10Y and 5GY pages, and neutral N, at value 2, 2.5 and 3 to 8 and chroma 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8. Every combination of these steps that the renotation data reach is shown, which is more than any single printed page holds. 21 of the darkest, strongest cells come from the part of the data that RIT extrapolated beyond the colors of the visual experiment, so they are rougher estimates. The Gley pages and the very light 8.5–9.5 values are not included.

Sources

Newhall S. M., Nickerson D., Judd D. B. (1943). Final report of the O.S.A. subcommittee on the spacing of the Munsell colors. Journal of the Optical Society of America 33(7), 385–418. DOI
Munsell Color Science Laboratory, Rochester Institute of Technology: Munsell renotation data. Link
Colour: open-source colour science library for Python (BSD-3). Link