Reflectance
Reflectance
Reflectance (pronounced: /rɪˈflɛktəns/) is the fraction of incident electromagnetic power that is reflected at an interface, in comparison to the incident power. The term is often used in the fields of physics, optics, chemistry, and earth sciences.
Etymology
The term "reflectance" is derived from the Latin word "reflectere", which means "to bend back". It was first used in the context of light and optics in the early 19th century.
Definition
Reflectance is defined as the ratio of the intensity of reflected light to the intensity of incident light. It is a measure of how much light is not absorbed by a surface. Reflectance is usually presented as a function of wavelength.
Related Terms
- Absorbance: The measure of the quantity of light absorbed by a substance.
- Transmittance: The fraction of incident light that passes through a medium.
- Spectrophotometry: A method used to measure the reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance of light by a sample.
- Albedo: The measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation.
Applications
Reflectance is used in a variety of applications, including:
- In remote sensing, to identify the properties of an object or surface.
- In spectroscopy, to determine the composition and properties of a material.
- In photometry, to measure the light reflected from surfaces.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Reflectance
- Wikipedia's article - Reflectance
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