Albedo: definition. Albedo is the fraction of solar - TopicsExpress



          

Albedo: definition. Albedo is the fraction of solar energy (shortwave radiation) reflected from the Earth back into space. It is a measure of the reflectivity of the earths surface. Ice, especially with snow on top of it, has a high albedo: most sunlight hitting the surface bounces back towards space. Water is much more absorbent and less reflective. So, if there is a lot of water, more solar radiation is absorbed by the ocean than when ice dominates. Albedo is not important at high latitudes in winter: there is hardly any incoming sunlight to worry about. It becomes important in spring and summer when the radiation entering through leads can greatly increase the
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 01:39:48 +0000

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