For seventeen years, scientists have been examining this balance sheet with a series of space-based sensors known as Clouds and the Earths Radiant Energy System, or CERES. or so), the OC radar albedo is a first-order approximation of the Fresnel reflection coefficient (aka reflectivity)[71] and can be used to estimate the bulk density of a planetary surface to a depth of a meter or so (a few wavelengths of the radar wavelength which is typically at the decimeter scale) using the following empirical relationships:[75]. BDRF can facilitate translations of observations of reflectance into albedo. The water vapor causes cooling on the land surface, causes heating where it condenses, acts a strong greenhouse gas, and can increase albedo when it condenses into clouds. The animation shows how certain areas of the earth receive more day or night time depending on the season. $O./ 'z8WG x 0YA@$/7z HeOOT _lN:K"N3"$F/JPrb[}Qd[Sl1x{#bG\NoX3I[ql2 $8xtr p/8pCfq.Knjm{r28?. Ouyang et al. On the other hand, if Earth was covered by a dark green forest canopy, the albedo would be about 0.14 (most of the sunlight would get absorbed). The albedo of a surface is expressed as a fraction between 0 and 1, as a surface cannot absorb or reflect more than the amount that hits the surface. The light remitted from a given ground point is the received irradiance, multiplied by the albedo factor of the ground. Heat. There is actually a way to quantify exactly how much radiation is reflected from a surface, and this is known as albedo. Snow has a high albedo, but as it starts to melt, the albedo goes down and more solar radiation is absorbed. Albedo can be entered with 1, 2, or 3 decimal places and has an allowable range of .01 to .90. Whether sunlight is reflected or absorbed depends on the albedo of the surface that sunlight hits. Albedo is a non-dimensional, unitless quantity that indicates how well a surface reflects solar energy. These calculations are based on the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), which describes how the reflectance of a given surface depends on the view angle of the observer and the solar angle. [25] Over Antarctica snow albedo averages a little more than 0.8. from Mississippi State University. The flow of energy in the Arctic is heavily influenced by the seasons. At the scale of the wavelength of light even wavy water is always smooth so the light is reflected in a locally specular manner (not diffusely). The albedo of the Earth ranges from close to one for snow-covered areas to almost zero for dark forests and oceans. Where flux1 =0.0, the returned value is set to _FillValue. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. Different surfaces have different albedos. Surfaces with high albedos include sand, snow and ice, and some urban surfaces, such as concrete or light-colored stone. The FAO Penman-Monteith method is recommended as the sole ET o method for determining reference evapotranspiration. Albedo maps constitute an important dataset in climate studies, particularly climate modeling. Flight Center, NASA Earth Observatory (2011, February 24), NASA Earth Observatory (2009, January 14), NASA Earth Observatory (2007, January 31). The ice-albedo feedback cycle exacerbates the rate of sea ice melting, making it difficult for polar environments to recover in the face of rising global temperatures associated with climate change. There are many ways to measure and calculate albedo. The albedo, or reflectivity of the surface, would also contribute to this energy intake. 77 0 obj
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Snow on top of this sea ice increases the albedo to 0.9. Deliberately increasing albedo in urban areas can mitigate urban heat island. The maps above show how the reflectivity of Earththe amount of sunlight reflected back into spacechanged between March 1, 2000, and December 31, 2011. The MCD43A Calculated Albedo Product is available through the MODIS Global Subsetting and Visualization Tool maintained by the ORNL DAAC. [59] Although such reflectance properties are different from those of any terrestrial terrains, they are typical of the regolith surfaces of airless Solar System bodies. [24] The uneven heating of Earth from albedo variations between land, ice, or ocean surfaces can drive weather. In this way, albedo affects weather. Relative Humidity Formula & Examples | How to Calculate Relative Humidity. National Snow and Ice Data Center. a black car absorbs more solar radiation. In principle, if no outside temperature change affects this area (e.g., a warm air mass), the raised albedo and lower temperature would maintain the current snow and invite further snowfall, deepening the snowtemperature feedback. C Because insolation plays such a big role in the heating and cooling effects of albedo, high insolation areas like the tropics will tend to show a more pronounced fluctuation in local temperature when local albedo changes. Albedo Facts, Effect & Importance | What is the Albedo of Earth? Once snow starts to melt, it usually happens very quickly, and changes in albedo play a big role in this phenomenon. In general, clouds and ice have the highest albedo, at 0.90 and 0.85, respectively. Accessed 16 November 2017. At this station you will measure the albedo of different surfaces such as grass, sand, dirt, asphalt, snow, or concrete. (August 1997)", "The effect of spectral albedo on amorphous silicon and crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic device performance", "The effect of spectral albedo in bifacial photovoltaic performance", "Effects of spectral albedo on solar photovoltaic devices", "Direct human influence of irrigation on atmospheric water vapour and climate", "Forests and Climate Change: Forcings, Feedbacks, and the Climate Benefits of Forests", "Canopy nitrogen, carbon assimilation and albedo in temperate and boreal forests: Functional relations and potential climate feedbacks", "Spectral Approach To Calculate Specular reflection of Light From Wavy Water Surface", "Arctic Reflection: Clouds Replace Snow and Ice as Solar Reflector", "Baffled Scientists Say Less Sunlight Reaching Earth", "Contrails reduce daily temperature range", "The Kuwait oil fires as seen by Landsat", "Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis", "Boreal forests, aerosols and the impacts on clouds and climate", "Surface temperature cooling trends and negative radiative forcing due to land use change toward greenhouse farming in southeastern Spain", "Including CO2-emission equivalence of changes in land surface albedo in life cycle assessment. )L^6 g,qm"[Z[Z~Q7%" Then we deal with the energy out, using the Stefan-Boltzmann law: E out = T 4 Combining energy in (E in) and energy out (E out ), we get: S ( 1a )= T 4 The given values for the different surfaces are average values, the real values can differ more or less from these. This calculator takes into account variables like the planet's albedo, it's distance from the host star, and the host star's size to determine the planet's temperature. Besides, we develop a look-up table (LUT) method . About one-third of that energy is reflected back into space, and the remaining 240 watts per square meter is absorbed by land, ocean, and atmosphere. Fig. As Earth orbits the sun, its tilted axis always points in the same direction. Land The ratio of radiosity to irradiance (flux each unit of . The last remaining CERES instrument will fly on the JPSS-1 satellite, and a follow-on, the Radiation Budget Instrument (RBI), will fly on JPSS-2. Areas that are forested in the summer lose their dark foliage in the fall and winter and thus, reflect more light (higher albedo). The extra absorbed energy heats the sea water, which in turn increases the rate at which sea ice melts. If Earth's climate is colder and there is more snow and ice on the planet, albedo increases, more sunlight is reflected out to space, and the climate gets even cooler. At higher and higher altitudes, the atmosphere becomes so thin that it essentially ceases to exist. S Mar 14, 2015. Albedo can be demonstrated using an example of a black and white car. Surfaces with low albedos include forests, the ocean, and some urban surfaces, such as asphalt. Albedo is important for the profound implications it has on the climate of the Earth and local weather patterns. This darkness lasts until early March. Arctic Reflection: Clouds Replace Snow and Ice as Solar Reflector. We begin with the energy (in units of W/m 2 ): E in =S ( 1a ) Here, S is the solar constant 1370 W/m 2, and a is the albedo, which is about .31 based on satellite measurements. , You can read more about the theory in the original paper of Lewis & Barnsley, 1994, or in the Schaaf et al, 2002 paper. With an average albedo of 0.90, clouds reflect about 90% of incoming solar radiation, a process called cloud albedo forcing. %%EOF
Albedo affects global climate and weather patterns. Simply, albedo can be calculated using the basic equation Albedo = Reflected Light/Incoming Light. I used my digital camera set to a given white balance (shade) and took several photos of the gray card and a piece of printer paper. 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Unless given for a specific wavelength (spectral albedo), albedo refers to the entire spectrum of solar radiation. 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