ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Forel-Ule scale

The forel-ule scale is a way of measuring the color of water depending on its brightness and hue. Imagine that you have a bunch of different colored crayons and you want to put them in order by how bright or dark and how blue or green they are. The forel-ule scale is kind of like that, but for water colors!

Scientists use a special chart with different colored squares to describe water color. They look at the water and decide which color square it looks most like. Then they write down the name of that square on a piece of paper, and this helps them to remember what color the water was.

The scale was invented by a scientist named François-Alphonse Forel, who was really interested in studying lakes and oceans. He wanted to find a way to measure the color of water in a more precise way than just saying "it's blue."

Nowadays, people use the forel-ule scale to study all kinds of water, from lakes to oceans to swimming pools! It's a helpful tool for understanding the health of the water and the things that live in it.