<p><a href="http://webserver.dmt.upm.es/%7Eisidoro/tc3/Space%20environment.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This</a> website (page 26) claims that full-earth-shine on the moon is 100 times greater than full-moon-shine on earth. The figure 100 is made up of the difference between the size of the earth and the moon, multiplied with the difference of their albedos. The earth is 13.45 times bigger than the moon. 100 divided by 13.45 equals 7.43. 7.43  multiplied with 0.12 (the moons albedo) equals 0.8916. Thus, he must have calculated with an earth albedo of 0.8916. But that might be a miscalculation. To figure that out the following question needs to be asked:</p>
<p>What is the highest albedo of the earth's surface facing the sun ever measured? Note, the question is not about the albedo of certain sections of the earth, but about the whole side of the earth that is facing the sun.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T08:42:07.167Z
This is starting to verge on the mono-manical.  https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/8133/how-bright-is-the-full-earth-during-the-lunar-midnight  The Earth's albedo is about 0.3, but can vary from time to time.  It is also something that isn't easy to "measure"   So perhaps the author of this one article is "simply wrong".  See also https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/84499/measuring-earths-albedo
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T09:11:27.820Z
Astronomers don't make detailed, granular albedo measurements of the Earth, however Earth Scientists do! This one is off-topic here but nicely on-topic in [Earth Science SE](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com) where they talk about satellite measurements of Earth all the time!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-20T10:53:02.000Z
As the author says and as I have amplified in your other question, the assumed Bond albedo is not responsible for the additional factor of $\sim 2$. It is absorption and the directional properties (non Lambertian nature) of the reflection.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-21T00:43:21.707Z
Based on explanations in [this question](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/41579/7982) I am **retracting my close vote** now that I understand the **application to exoplanet searches and characterizations.**
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-21T02:12:28.733Z
@uhoh. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mars_orbiters
Constantthin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-21T02:18:44.977Z
[How many spacecraft have taken a “Pale Blue Dot” type photo of the Earth from beyond cis-lunar space?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/22838/12102) the current list there is incomplete, there have been many more!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-22T10:12:45.807Z
I think it might be true - Earth has much higher albedo (count with 2), Moon has no atmosphere (count with 2) and the radius of the Earth is 6x bigger (x36). It roughly matches. Surprising.
peterh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-24T04:10:16.573Z
related to Earth albedo and an Earth-pointing spacecraft: [**The Estimation of Surface Albedo from DSCOVR EPIC**](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/11/1897), and [Determining the daytime Earth radiative flux from National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR) measurements](https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/13/429/2020/), and [Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020EA001521),
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-24T04:10:19.327Z
and [Synoptic Ozone, Cloud Reflectivity, and Erythemal Irradiance from Sunrise to Sunset for the Whole Earth](https://amt.copernicus.org/preprints/amt-2017-155/amt-2017-155.pdf) **and especially: [Planetary Atmospheres: Astrobiologically Relevant Icy Worlds and Earth **as a Proxy Exoplanet**](https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/14027/)
uhoh
<earth><albedo>
What is the highest albedo of the earth's surface facing the sun ever measured?
Constantthin
# What is the highest albedo of the earth's surface facing the sun ever measured?

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

[This](http://webserver.dmt.upm.es/%7Eisidoro/tc3/Space%20environment.pdf) website (page 26) claims that full-earth-shine on the moon is 100 times greater than full-moon-shine on earth. The figure 100 is made up of the difference between the size of the earth and the moon, multiplied with the difference of their albedos. The earth is 13.45 times bigger than the moon. 100 divided by 13.45 equals 7.43. 7.43 multiplied with 0.12 (the moons albedo) equals 0.8916. Thus, he must have calculated with an earth albedo of 0.8916. But that might be a miscalculation. To figure that out the following question needs to be asked:

What is the highest albedo of the earth's surface facing the sun ever measured? Note, the question is not about the albedo of certain sections of the earth, but about the whole side of the earth that is facing the sun.

**Tags:** earth, albedo

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is starting to verge on the mono-manical.  https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/8133/how-bright-is-the-full-earth-during-the-lunar-midnight  The Earth's albedo is about 0.3, but can vary from time to time.  It is also something that isn't easy to "measure"   So perhaps the author of this one article is "simply wrong".  See also https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/84499/measuring-earths-albedo  
> **username_2**: Astronomers don't make detailed, granular albedo measurements of the Earth, however Earth Scientists do! This one is off-topic here but nicely on-topic in [Earth Science SE](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com) where they talk about satellite measurements of Earth all the time!  
> **username_3**: As the author says and as I have amplified in your other question, the assumed Bond albedo is not responsible for the additional factor of $\sim 2$. It is absorption and the directional properties (non Lambertian nature) of the reflection.  
> **username_2**: Based on explanations in [this question](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/41579/7982) I am **retracting my close vote** now that I understand the **application to exoplanet searches and characterizations.**  
> **username_0**: @username_2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mars_orbiters  
> **username_2**: [How many spacecraft have taken a “Pale Blue Dot” type photo of the Earth from beyond cis-lunar space?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/22838/12102) the current list there is incomplete, there have been many more!  
> **username_4**: I think it might be true - Earth has much higher albedo (count with 2), Moon has no atmosphere (count with 2) and the radius of the Earth is 6x bigger (x36). It roughly matches. Surprising.  
> **username_2**: related to Earth albedo and an Earth-pointing spacecraft: [**The Estimation of Surface Albedo from DSCOVR EPIC**](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/11/1897), and [Determining the daytime Earth radiative flux from National Institute of Standards and Technology Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR) measurements](https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/13/429/2020/), and [Deep Space Observations of Terrestrial Glitter](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020EA001521),  
> **username_2**: and [Synoptic Ozone, Cloud Reflectivity, and Erythemal Irradiance from Sunrise to Sunset for the Whole Earth](https://amt.copernicus.org/preprints/amt-2017-155/amt-2017-155.pdf) **and especially: [Planetary Atmospheres: Astrobiologically Relevant Icy Worlds and Earth **as a Proxy Exoplanet**](https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/14027/)  

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## 0 answers

