The ratio of the amount of light reflected by a non-luminous body to the amount incident upon it. Some surfaces, for example clouds and snow, reflect back a lot of light and therefore have a high albedo. Forested areas absorb much more light and only reflect back a small amount. The overall albedo of the earth is about 0.3, or 30 percent, which means that 30 percent of the solar radiation is reflected back into space.
