The term ‘albedo’ implies the

The term 'albedo' refers to the reflectivity of a surface, specifically defined as the proportion or fraction of incoming shortwave solar radiation that is reflected back into space without being absorbed [4]. It is expressed as a ratio or percentage, where a value of 0 indicates a perfectly absorptive (black) surface and 1 indicates a perfectly reflective (white) surface [5]. Most energy received from the Sun is in the visible or shortwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. While the Earth's surface absorbs a significant portion of this radiation to maintain its heat budget, approximately 30% of the total incoming solar energy is reflected by clouds, aerosols, and bright surfaces like snow and ice [4]. Snow-covered areas exhibit the highest albedo, reflecting up to 70-90% of insolation, whereas darker surfaces like oceans and asphalt have much lower values [3].

Sources

1. [1] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 21: Horizontal Distribution of Temperature > Albedo > p. 283
2. [4] https://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/mini-lessonactivity/energy-and-matter-shortwave-radiation
3. [3] FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 8: Solar Radiation, Heat Balance and Temperature > Heat Budget of the Planet Earth > p. 69