Albedo

albedo, A, is the ratio of total upwelling to total downwelling radiation (without further qualification, over the entire solar radiation (shortwave) regime, practically from 400-3000 nm) and is usually calculated over the total ShortWave (SW) spectral region. Earth surface albedo is generally split into two spectral components: visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR). Albedo depends on the time of day and the atmospheric state (mainly aerosols in the visible and water vapour at longer wavelengths).