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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms pp 1–26Cite as

Albedo Feature

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Definition

An albedo feature is a region on the surface of a nonluminous celestial body (e.g., planet, moon, or small body) with distinct brightness (radiance) values or color, i.e., exhibiting observable/measurable brightness- or color-contrast relative to its surroundings. Albedo features were traditionally identified by doing spectrally integrated observation of the reflected sunlight with a telescope in the visible spectrum range of light and having adequate spatial resolution to resolve distinct parts of the surface of the object. Detection of the brightness variations is today extended to photometric (radiometric) measurements with modern satellite/spacecraft spectrophotometers or spectroradiometers at separate monochromatic wavelengths or integrated observations in other wavelength regions as well (see spectral albedo, narrowband albedo, and broadband albedo). Albedo features result from those brightness variations, that are due to variations of the reflective properties (often...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. retired from Department of Environmental Geology, Geological and Geophysical Institute of Hungary, Budapest, Hungary

    Péter Kardeván

  2. Planetary Science Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Henrik Hargitai

  3. ASI Science Data Center / INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via del Politecnico, 00133, Rome, Italy

    Angelo Zinzi

  4. INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Francesca Esposito

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  1. Péter Kardeván
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  2. Henrik Hargitai
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  4. Francesca Esposito
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Correspondence to Péter Kardeván .

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Kardeván, P., Hargitai, H., Zinzi, A., Esposito, F. (2014). Albedo Feature. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_461-1

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