The Salford Nature Environments Database (SNED): an open-access database of standardized high-quality pictures from natural environments.

Abstract

The growing interest in harnessing natural environments to enhance mental health, including cognitive functioning and mood, has yielded encouraging results in initial studies. Given that images of nature have demonstrated similar benefits, they are frequently employed as proxies for real-world environments. To ensure precision and control, researchers often manipulate images of natural environments. The effectiveness of this approach relies on standardization of imagery, and therefore, inconsistency in methods and stimuli has limited the synthesis of research findings in the area. Responding to these limitations, the current paper introduces the Salford Nature Environments Database (SNED), a standardized database of natural images created to support ongoing research into the benefits of nature exposure. The SNED currently exists as the most comprehensive nature image database available, comprising 500 high-quality, standardized photographs capturing a variety of possible natural environments across the seasons. It also includes normative scores for user-rated (801 participants) characteristics of fascination, refuge and prospect, compatibility, preference, valence, arousal, and approach-avoidance, as well as data on physical properties of the images, specifically luminance, contrast, entropy, CIELAB colour space parameter values, and fractal dimensions. All image ratings and content detail, along with participant details, are freely available online. Researchers are encouraged to use this open-access database in accordance with the specific aims and design of their study. The SNED represents a valuable resource for continued research in areas such as nature-based therapy, social prescribing, and experimental approaches investigating underlying mechanisms that help explain how natural environments improve mental health and wellbeing.