albedo

American  

[al-bee-doh] / ælˈbi doʊ /

noun

plural

albedos

1. Astronomy. the ratio of the light reflected by a planet or satellite to that received by it.

2. Meteorology. such a ratio for any part of the earth's surface or atmosphere.

3. pith.

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albedo British  

/ ælˈbiːdəʊ /

noun

1. the ratio of the intensity of light reflected from an object, such as a planet, to that of the light it receives from the sun

2. physics the probability that a neutron passing through a surface will return through that surface

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albedo Scientific  

/ ăl-bē′dō /

1. The fraction of the total light striking a surface that gets reflected from that surface. An object that has a high albedo (near 1) is very bright; an object that has a low albedo (near 0) is dark. The Earth's albedo is about 0.37. The Moon's is about 0.12.

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Etymology

Origin of albedo

First recorded in 1855–60; from Late Latin albēdō “white (color), whiteness,” equivalent to alb(us) “white” + -ēdō noun suffix; torpedo

Example Sentences

"Water vapor does not affect the albedo of Earth, so it did not affect our analysis of the magnitude of the aerosol forcing."

From Salon • Feb. 6, 2025

"However, our analysis of the datasets shows that the decline in surface albedo in the polar regions only accounts for roughly 15 percent of the most recent decline in planetary albedo," Helge Goessling explains.

From Science Daily • Dec. 5, 2024

Even in these locations, however, albedo changes are likely to offset the net climate benefit by at least 20 percent in around two-thirds of cases.

From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2024

Other potential outcomes include reductions in albedo — or the amount of light reflected by the ice — which would accelerate human-caused warming by creating an amplifying feedback loop.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2024

“The general albedo of Mercury is low and most of the soil is gray pumice. Something like the Moon, you know. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov