Albedo
The ratio of the amount of radiation reflected from an object’s surface compared to the amount that strikes it. This varies according to the texture, color, and expanse of the object’s surface and is reported in percentage. Surfaces with high albedo include sand and snow, while low albedo rates include forests and freshly turned earth.
Radiation
The process by which energy is propagated through any medium by virtue of the wave motion of that medium. Electromagnetic radiation, which emits heat and light, is one form. Sound waves are another.
Sand
Loose particles of hard, broken rock or minerals. In observing, sand is reported when particles of sand are raised to sufficient height that reduces visibility.
Snow
Frozen precipitation in the form of white or translucent ice crystals in complex branched hexagonal form. It most often falls from stratiform clouds, but can fall as snow showers from cumuliform ones. It usually appears clustered into snowflakes.