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Albedo
The fraction of the total solar radiation incident on a body that is reflected by it. Albedo can be expressed as either a percentage or a fraction of 1. Snow covered areas have a high albedo (up to about 0.9 or 90%) due to their white color, while vegetation has a low albedo (generally about 0.1 or 10%) due to the dark color and light absorbed for photosynthesis. Clouds have an intermediate albedo and are the most important contributor to the Earth's albedo. The Earth's aggregate albedo is approximately 0.3. See radiation, radiative forcing, photosynthesis. (source: EPA) Background from Wikipedia For other uses, see Albedo (disambiguation). Albedo is a ratio of scattered to incident electromagnetic radiation power, most commonly light. It is a unitless measure of a surface or body's reflectivity. The word is derived from albus, a Latin word for "white". Percentage of reflected sun light in relation to various surface conditions of the earthThe albedo is an important concept particularly in climatology and astronomy. In climatology it is sometimes expressed as a percentage. Its value depends on the frequency of radiation considered: unqualified, it usually refers to some appropriate average across the spectrum of visible light. In general, the albedo depends on the direction and directional distribution of incoming radiation. An exception are Lambertian surfaces, which scatter radiation equally in all directions, so their albedo does not depend on the incoming distribution. In realistic cases, a bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) is required to characterise the scattering properties of a surface accurately, although albedos are a very useful first approximation. Slashdot...studies have indicated that despite the carbon emissions, the vapor trails of commercial jets actually create a net COOLING effect due to albedo. Thinking Big on Global Warming - Oct 14, 2007 Wall Street JournalIn the language of climate science, we would increase by a few percent the Earth's "albedo" -- the ratio of incoming sunlight reflected back into space These Ships Could Save the Planet ... and Make Great Houseboats, Too - Oct 9, 2007 Wired NewsTake, for example, John Latham and Stephen Salter's so-called albedo yacht, pictured at right. The unmanned, wind-powered ships would be sent to wherever The snowpack's dirty little secret - Oct 17, 2007 Aspen Times,Snow's reflective power is called albedo, and clean snow's albedo can approach 100 percent. But darker, dirtier snow may reflect only 50 to 60 percent, A Swiftly Melting Planet - Oct 4, 2007 New York Times,Melting ice leaves behind open ocean water that has a much lower reflectivity (or albedo) than that of ice. Open ocean water absorbs about 80 percent more Arctic Sea Ice Shrinking, Thinning Even in Winter - Sep 25, 2007 FOX NewsThe latter factor, known as the ice-albedo feedback, has been predicted by climate models and works like this: As ice melts in the summer, the open ocean 2006-07 Aeon Award winner announced at Eurocon, Copenhagen - Oct 16, 2007 UK SF Book News Network,The wrinner receives €1000 in prize money, and the story will be published in the 34th issue of [2] Albedo One magazine. The second and third-placed stories RosCosmos and NASA Agreed to Explore Mars and the Moon Together - Oct 4, 2007 Russia-InfoCenter,Another Russian device DAN is focused on studying albedo for neutrons and will travel to Mars on the American science laboratory in 2009. Red-jewel cuisine - Oct 17, 2007 Cincinnati Post,Neither is the albedo - a white, fleshy substance directly under the skin - nor the see-through yellow membrane surrounding the arils, the name for all the Global Engineering and Climate Change - Oct 10, 2007 OpEdNews,Similarly, Nobelist Paul Crutzen suggests that adding sulphur to the atmosphere would increase cloud cover and thus albedo (reflectivity). Fringe benefit exacerbates greenhouse gas - Oct 14, 2007 The Age,...ice as early as 2013 will kick in the albedo effect (white reflective ice replaced by dark, heat absorbing sea) which means, according to glaciologists, Report: CO2 Not Responsible for Past Warming - Oct 17, 2007 DailyTech,This eventually causes ice sheet retreat, which lowers ocean albedo, reflectivity. Additional warming is generated, a feedback effect which over 1000 or The Big Melt - Oct 17, 2007 Groovy Green,...it is reasonable to expect the very rapid loss of the Arctic sea ice, with a significant impact on regional temperatures due to the albedo effect. The time has come for drastic action - Oct 10, 2007 The Age,The rapid loss of Arctic sea ice will speed up the disintegration of the Greenland ice sheet and, through the albedo effect (white reflective ice replaced Outside View: Partners in space -- Part 2 - Oct 16, 2007 United Press InternationalRussia's DAN -- Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons -- instrument will take part in the American MSL -- Mars Science Laboratory -- mission, which is scheduled to Bottom line - Oct 15, 2007 The Hill,By The Hill Staff • AGRICULTURE: American Defense Intl. has registered to lobby for several new clients on various research issues, including Albedo NASA spacecraft to fly Russian equipment - Oct 3, 2007 Science Daily (press release)Russia's Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory will measure hydrogen to analyze neutrons interacting with the Martian surface Carbon Dioxide Did Not End The Last Ice Age - Sep 27, 2007 Science Daily (press release)As the sun pumped in heat, the warming accelerated because of sea-ice albedo feedbacks, in which retreating ice exposes ocean water that reflects less light 'Remarkable' Drop In Arctic Sea Ice Raises Questions - Sep 27, 2007 Science Daily (press release)This results in a positive feedback loop called ice albedo feedback, which causes the loss of the sea ice to be self-compounding. The more it disappears, Full Text - Oct 11, 2007 Science Magazine (subscription)...first time by NH include those at Zal and Kurdalagon and a large new plume, 150 km high, at north Lerna Regio, which has produced a large albedo change. Full Text - Oct 11, 2007 Science Magazine (subscription)If they are composed of material with similar albedo (5%), then each has a cross section that is equivalent to a moon 1 km in radius. Based on the orbits, Data reveal poles are at risk - Oct 11, 2007 Honolulu Star-Bulletin,Furthermore, ice reflects solar radiation back into space in what is called the albedo effect, but once it melts it exposes more ocean, which absorbs more Labsphere’s Solar Spectrum System Simulates Solar Radiation - Oct 8, 2007 Test and Measurement.com (press release),The system is capable of approximating the spectral radiance of a 100% albedo source, or the spectral curve of the ASTM Standard D65. Cosmic rays don’t die so easily - Oct 4, 2007 RealClimateThis is not what one would expect to see if the GCR mechanism played a key role, as changes in cloudiness would affect the planetary albedo, and hence the Another 'must read' from Hansen - Oct 3, 2007 Grist Magazine,About half of that sensitivity is from the ice sheet albedo feedback. At earlier times in the Cenozoic, between 65 and 35 My BP when there was little ice on Arctic sea ice reaches record minimum - Sep 25, 2007 World Socialist Web Site,The melting process itself is enhanced by the ice-albedo feedback effect—surfaces covered by ice are replaced by open water, which absorbs more solar The new face of activism - Aug 17, 2007 Guardian Unlimited,There are workshops on carbon trading, decentralised energy, faith and the environment, roads and climate change, albedo, tipping points, growth in China, Not as pure as snow - Aug 9, 2007 Nature.com (subscription),Snow has the highest albedo, or reflectivity, of any naturally occurring surface on earth. The albedo of pure white snow is 0.92, meaning that it reflects Man-made Soot Contributed To Warming In Greenland In The Early ... - Aug 10, 2007 Science Daily (press release)This decreased level of reflectivity, or albedo, in scientific terms, allowed the surface to absorb more energy from the sun. Desert dust quickens snowmelt in West's mountains, study says - Jul 23, 2007 Salt Lake Tribune,They were studying what is called ''albedo,'' the ability of an object to reflect light. ''We found a dramatic reduction in the albedo in areas where there Nearby states’ dust melts snow - Jul 22, 2007 Durango Herald,Researchers reached the conclusion by measuring the ability of snow to reflect solar rays, called albedo or reflectivity, Landry said. Are we handing our kids a train wreck? - Aug 1, 2007 Fergus Falls Daily Journal,The rainforests have a significant Albedo Affect. However, ice is the most powerful force in this regard. In fact, what I learned is that the ice in the Arctic climate study reveals impact of industrial soot - Aug 10, 2007 Hindu,Soot reduces reflectivity of snow and ice — decreasing its albedo in scientific terms — allowing the surface to absorb more energy from the sun. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - Jul 23, 2007 IGN,Also, some NPCs, like Gaignun, and this title’s villains, Margulis and Albedo, set a superb foundation for the game’s conspiracy. However, it’s hard for me CLIMATE CHANGE: Deniers Jump on NASA Gaff, While Greenland on ... - Aug 16, 2007 IPS,It may be that the Arctic sea ice has already passed its tipping point, in which warming temperatures and a "positive ice-albedo feedback" (ice Wash. Post's Solomon uncritically quoted Thompson "mocking global ... - Jul 27, 2007 Media Matters for America,..."Albedo" is the technical term for a planet's ability to reflect sunlight, and on Mars its over-all albedo has decreased since it was first measured between The CO 2 problem in 6 easy steps - Aug 6, 2007 RealClimateThus if the sun were to become stronger by about 2%, the TOA radiation balance would change by 0.02*1366*0.7/4 = 4.8 W/m 2 (taking albedo and geometry into Soot 'influences Arctic climate' - Aug 10, 2007 BBC News,This decreased level of reflectivity, or albedo, allowed the surface to absorb more energy from the Sun. These changes may have resulted in earlier snow Industrial pollution has caused Arctic warming since 1880s - Aug 9, 2007 Mongabay.com...potential impacts on seasonal snow covers are larger since additional warming leads to earlier exposure of underlying low albedo rock, soil, vegetation, Dodging the Tipping Points? - Aug 8, 2007 It's Getting Hot In Here,Gulf Stream disruption: we all know about the polar ice shrinking, and that the albedo effect with darker water keeps polar areas warming faster and faster Biodesign buildings earn top green honor - Jul 31, 2007 Arizona State University,A reflective roof membrane and high-albedo paving materials mitigate the Phoenix area’s urban heat island effect. • A 5000-gallon irrigation water cistern New Leica ScanStation 2 Boasts Exponential Increase in Scan Speeds ... - Jul 30, 2007 GISuser.com (press release),...tilt compensation for traversing and re-sectioning; survey-grade accuracy for each measurement and excellent measuring distance (300 m at 90% albedo). Green Myth-Busting: Cosmic Ray Flux - Jul 26, 2007 Green Options blog,The first thing to understand is that clouds generally have a cooling effect on the planet, through an effect called albedo: they reflect sunlight back into News in full - Jul 25, 2007 EEMS - Energy Efficient Motorsport,...the Committee says recent scientific debate about the albedo effect and northern temperate forests and the related debased and largely inaccurate Harry Potter and the alchemy theory - Jul 24, 2007 PopMatters,The next alchemical stage is purification, the albedo, or white phase, which can be seen in “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. |
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