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 im**es 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 A20 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 (Houghton et al., 1996).
Albedos for selected objects (Sellers, 1965)
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Goward, S.N. (1998). Albedo and reflectivity. In: Hydrology and Lakes. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4513-1_11
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