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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barrrett, E. C., 1974. Climatology from Satellites. London: Methuen.
Briegleb, B., and V. Ramanathan, 1980. Spectral and diurnal variations in clear sky planetary albedo, Jour. Appl. Meteorol. 21, 1160–1171.
Charney, J., 1975. Dynamics of deserts and drought in the Sahel, Q. Jour. Royal Meteorol. Soc. 101, 193–202.
Dirnhirm, I., 1968. On the use of silicon cells in meteorological radiation studies, Jour. Appl. Meteorol. 7, 702–707.
Fritz, S., and M. Rigby, 1957. Selective annotated bibliography on albedo, Meteorol. Abstr. Bibliogr. 8, 952–998.
Hummel, J. R., and R. A. Reck, 1979. A global surface albedo model, J. Appl. Meterol. 18, 239–253.
Kondrotyev, K. Ya., (ed.), 1973. Radiation Characteristics of the Atmosphere and the Earth's Surface, V. Pondit (trans.). New Delhi: Amerind.
Miller, D. H., 1981. Energy at the Surface of the Earth. International Geophysics Series, vol. 27. New York: Academic Press.
Otterman, J., 1977. Anthropogenic impact on albedo of the Earth, Climatic Change 1, 137–155.
Robinson, N., 1966. Solar Radiation. New York: Elsevier.
Sagan, C., O. B. Toon, and J. B. Pollock, 1979. Anthropogenic albedo changes and the Earth's climate, Science 206 (4425), 1363–1368.
Sellers, W. D., 1965. Physical Climatology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Stoner, E. R., and M. F. Baumgardner, 1981. Characteristic variations in reflectance of surface soils, Soil Sci. Soc. America Jour. 45, 1161–1165.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Van Nostrand Reinhold
About this entry
Cite this entry
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-87933-009-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30749-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive