albedo

American  

[al-bee-doh] / ælˈbi doʊ /

noun

albedos plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• albedos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of albedo

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

Explanation

Albedo refers to how reflective and bright something is. Snow has a high albedo, which is why skiers wear sunglasses and sunscreen. Technically speaking, the albedo of an object is a ratio. It compares the amount of light hitting the surface of the object to the amount of light that gets reflected back. The more light reflected, the higher the albedo. Scientists often use this word in reference to the surfaces of planets and other reflective objects in the night sky. Albedo comes from a Latin word for “white.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

albedo albedos

The region's rising temperatures are partly due to a process known as the albedo feedback.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

"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

But what caused this near-record drop in planetary albedo?

From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024

The researchers provide a tool practitioners and land managers can use to determine just how much of a problem albedo is for any reforestation or afforestation project on the globe.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2024

Typically they have an albedo, or reflectiveness, of just 4 percent about the same as a lump of charcoal–and of course these lumps of charcoal are about four billion miles away.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

For example, during climate cooling, growth of glaciers leads to higher albedos, and formation of permafrost results in storage of carbon that would otherwise have returned quickly to the atmosphere.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

Earth’s various surfaces have widely differing albedos, expressed as the percentage of light that reflects off a given material.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

Snow and ice have high albedos and reflect 60% to 90 of the Sun's energy.

From Nature ● Feb. 29, 2012

Land, vegetation and open ocean, being darker, have low albedos because they absorb most of the energy.

From Nature ● Feb. 29, 2012