We have used accurate , spectroscopically determined abundances for G and K dwarfs of Morell , Källander and Butcher ( 1992 ) and Morell ( 1994 ) , to derive a photometric abundance index for G and K dwarfs .
Broadband Cousins R - I photometry is used to estimate effective temperature and the Geneva b _ { 1 } colour to estimate line blanketing in the blue and hence abundance .
Abundances can be derived in the range -2.0 < [ Fe/H ] < 0.5 for G0 to K3 dwarfs , with a scatter in [ Fe/H ] of 0.2 dex .
We apply the method to a sample of Gliese catalog G and K dwarfs , and examine the metallicity and kinematic properties of the stars .
The stars show the well established observational features of the disk , thick disk and halo in the solar neighbourhood .
We find that the distribution of local K dwarf metallicity is quite similar to local G dwarfs , indicating that there is a “ K-dwarf ” as well as a G-dwarf problem .