Albedo is the percentage of solar radiation reflected by an object. The term is derived from the Latin albus, white. A pure white object would reflect all radiation that impinges on it and have an albedo of 100%. A pure black object would absorb all radiation and have an albedo of 0%. Bright earth features such as clouds, fresh snow, and ice have albedos that range from 50% to 95%. Forests, fresh asphalt, and dark soils have albedos between 5% and 20%. Table 1 presents representative albedos for a variety of objects. Knowledge of albedo is important because absorbed solar radiation increases the amount of energy available to the earth's surface and atmosphere, whereas reflected radiation returns to space.
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© 1987 Van Nostrand Reinhold
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Goward, S.N. (1987). Albedo and reflectivity . In: Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_8
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