What is albedo?

The albedo of an object is the extent to which it diffusely reflects light from the Sun. It is a more specific form of reflectivity. Albedo is the ratio of the diffusely reflected to incident electromagnetic radiation. It is a unitless measure indicative of a surface’s or a body’s diffuse reflectivity. Albedo is a Latin word for whiteness. The range of possible values is from 0 (dark) to 1 (bright). It is an important concept in climatology and astronomy.