The leaf reflectance spectra of plants polluted with heavy metal copper exhibit abnormal behavior. This paper investigates the spectral changes in copper-polluted leaves using seven spectral signatures and the spectral angle method. Wheat and l ettuce were selected as the experimental subjects and were cultured in copper-polluted soil. Leaf spectra reflectance and scanning electron micrograph of ten copper treatment groups were measured in four regular periods. The reflectance spectra of the leaves were obtained using an ASD Field Spectrometer. Results showed that the irregular spectral changes of copper-polluted leaves d epend on crop growth stages and crop types. The spectral angle

a simple method of comparing the vector angle of the leaf spectra with the given threshold values

has been justified as an efficient method of describing the spectral differences between copper-p olluted leaves and healthy leaves. The method is very sensitive to light and the severity of copper pollution. Results also show that the leaf structural parameter（ N） of copper-polluted leaves is larger than that of healthy leaves. The linear relationship between N and the reflectance value of the red shoulder was fitted with a correlation coefficient of 0. 978. As a result

the deduced N from the leaf reflectance spectra may be used as an indicator to reflect the leaf structure distortion under copper pollution conditions. The significance of this study lies in its provision of data asbasis and theoretical support for the construction of a copper-polluted leaf reflectance spectral model.