The percentage of sunlight reflected from a surface is called its albedo. In general, the greater the albedo, the cooler the surface because less sunlight is absorbed. Albedo varies widely between surfaces. Has a bright cloud or snow ever made you squint your eyes? They're bright! The asphalt will usually be hotter, in large part, because more sunlight is absorbed by the surface. Albedo and absorption are counterparts of the reflective properties of a surface.
If you look at the table below, you'll notice that asphalt has a much lower albedo than forest or grass. Because of this, when cities replace natural vegetation, the area usually becomes much hotter. Climatologists call this effect an urban heat island. Save Word. Definition of albedo. The spongy white tissue, called albedo , is quite bitter, and it clings with the tenacity of lichen.
Examples of albedo in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web According to this research, clouds have a high albedo —similar to snow and ice—but have been largely discounted in many studies examining natural mitigation of climate change. First Known Use of albedo , in the meaning defined at sense 1. Learn More About albedo. Time Traveler for albedo The first known use of albedo was in See more words from the same year.
From the Editors at Merriam-Webster. A Paean on the Names of Nature's Light Statistics for albedo Look-up Popularity. Style: MLA. Medical Definition of albedo. The fraction of light that is reflected by an object is called the albedo , which means whiteness in Latin. Black objects have an albedo close to 0, while white objects have an albedo of close to 1.
The table below lists some representative albedos for Earth surface materials. Most of these albedos are sensitive to the angle at which the sunlight hits the surface; this is especially true for water.
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