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The average albedo of Earth is about 0.3. [15] This is far higher than for the ocean primarily because of the contribution of clouds. Earth's surface albedo is regularly estimated via Earth observation satellite sensors such as NASA's MODIS instruments on board the Terra and Aqua satellites, and the CERES instrument on the Suomi NPP and JPSS.
In planetary geology, an albedo feature is a large area on the surface of a planet (or other Solar System body) which shows a contrast in brightness or darkness with adjacent areas. Historically, albedo features were the first (and usually only) features to be seen and named on Mars and Mercury .
An albedometer is an instrument used to measure the albedo (reflecting radiation) of a surface. An albedometer is mostly used to measure the reflectance of earths surface. It is also useful to evaluate thermal effects in buildings and generation capacity with bifacial solar photovoltaic panels. Often it consists of two pyranometers: one facing ...
Cloud albedo strongly influences the Earth's energy budget, accounting for approximately half of Earth's albedo. [1] [2] Cloud albedo is influenced by the conditions of cloud formation and variations in cloud albedo depend on the total mass of water, the size and shape of the droplets or particles and their distribution in space. [3]
However, it also increases the global albedo from 15% to 30%, and this reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the Earth by about 44 W/m 2. Thus, there is a net cooling of about 13 W/m 2. [22] If the clouds were removed with all else remaining the same, the Earth would lose this much cooling and the global temperatures would increase.
Diffuse reflection on sphere and flat disk, each for the case of a geometric albedo of 1. For the hypothetical case of a plane surface, the geometric albedo is the albedo of the surface when the illumination is provided by a beam of radiation that comes in perpendicular to the surface.
Ice–albedo feedback is a climate change feedback, where a change in the area of ice caps, glaciers, and sea ice alters the albedo and surface temperature of a planet. Because ice is very reflective, it reflects far more solar energy back to space than open water or any other land cover. [1] It occurs on Earth, and can also occur on exoplanets ...
A 1934 map showing some of Mercury's albedo features. This is a list of the albedo features of the planet Mercury as seen by early telescopic observation. Early telescopic observations of Mercury were based on the assumption that Mercury keeps one of its faces permanently turned toward the Sun, through the mechanism of tidal locking. Although ...