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Albedo

Climatology

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Albedo is the fraction of incoming sunlight that a surface or body diffusely reflects rather than absorbs, measured on a scale from 0, meaning no reflection, to 1, meaning complete reflection. Surface albedo is formally defined as the ratio of the radiation a surface reflects to the radiation it receives, and the actual proportion reflected depends not only on the properties of the surface itself but also on the spectral and angular distribution of the incoming solar radiation, which in turn varies with atmospheric composition, geographic location and time.

Facts
Origin Year
1760 1
Sources
1. Albedo (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAlbedo article, terminology/history discussion
Quote, Albedo article, terminology/history discussion
The term albedo was introduced into optics by Johann Heinrich Lambert in his 1760 work Photometria.
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