<p>Have gathered from papers like this one (*) that &quot;Albedo is differentiated into two general types: (1) normal, reflective or geometric albedo, and (2) bond albedo&quot;. The document explained that Geometric Albedo usually is bigger than the Bond Albedo, which often just reflects two-thirds of the reflective light of Geometric Albedo.</p>
<p>Wikipedia points out in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_albedo" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> article about Bond Albedo; that Bond Albedo sometimes  can be greater than Geometric Albedo, which apparently is the case with Venus and Mars.</p>
<p>Question is; How Is this possible? What is behind this phenomenon? I think Wikipedia is trying to explain it, but I have difficulty grasping it. Can it be explained in an easier way? Examples with pictures would be ideal.</p>
<p>(*) &quot;Background Reading to Albedo Investigation&quot; (Google this document title)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T09:15:07.313Z
There's an interesting and potentially helpful discussion in Zephyr's answer to [Why is Enceladus's albedo greater than 1?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/20795)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-21T07:18:37.747Z
Not my field, but based on your link, A (bond albedo) = p*q where p is the geometric albedo and q is the phase integral.  So, if q < 1.0, then geometric > Bond.  If q > 1.0, geometric < Bond.
Stuart Robbins
<albedo>
How can Bond Albedo be greater than Geometric Albedo?
Constantthin
# How can Bond Albedo be greater than Geometric Albedo?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-20)

Have gathered from papers like this one (\*) that "Albedo is differentiated into two general types: (1) normal, reflective or geometric albedo, and (2) bond albedo". The document explained that Geometric Albedo usually is bigger than the Bond Albedo, which often just reflects two-thirds of the reflective light of Geometric Albedo.

Wikipedia points out in [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_albedo) article about Bond Albedo; that Bond Albedo sometimes can be greater than Geometric Albedo, which apparently is the case with Venus and Mars.

Question is; How Is this possible? What is behind this phenomenon? I think Wikipedia is trying to explain it, but I have difficulty grasping it. Can it be explained in an easier way? Examples with pictures would be ideal.

(\*) "Background Reading to Albedo Investigation" (Google this document title)

**Tags:** albedo

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There's an interesting and potentially helpful discussion in Zephyr's answer to [Why is Enceladus's albedo greater than 1?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/20795)  
> **username_2**: Not my field, but based on your link, A (bond albedo) = p*q where p is the geometric albedo and q is the phase integral.  So, if q < 1.0, then geometric > Bond.  If q > 1.0, geometric < Bond.  

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## 0 answers

