Absorptance

Absorptance of the surface of a material is its effectiveness in absorbing radiant energy. It is the fraction of incident electromagnetic power that is absorbed at an interface, in contrast to the absorption coefficient, which is the ratio of the absorbed to incident electric field. This should not be confused with absorbance.

Mathematical definitions

Hemispherical absorptance

Hemispherical absorptance of a surface, denoted A, is defined as

$A={\frac {\Phi _{\mathrm {e} }^{\mathrm {a} }}{\Phi _{\mathrm {e} }^{\mathrm {i} }}},$

where

• Φ_e^a is the radiant flux absorbed by that surface;
• Φ_eⁱ is the radiant flux received by that surface.

Spectral hemispherical absorptance

Spectral hemispherical absorptance in frequency and spectral hemispherical absorptance in wavelength of a surface, denoted A_ν and A_λ respectively, are defined as

$A_{\nu }={\frac {\Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }^{\mathrm {a} }}{\Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }^{\mathrm {i} }}},$

$A_{\lambda }={\frac {\Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }^{\mathrm {a} }}{\Phi _{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }^{\mathrm {i} }}},$

where

• Φ_e,ν^a is the spectral radiant flux in frequency absorbed by that surface;
• Φ_e,νⁱ is the spectral radiant flux in frequency received by that surface;
• Φ_e,λ^a is the spectral radiant flux in wavelength absorbed by that surface;
• Φ_e,λⁱ is the spectral radiant flux in wavelength received by that surface.

Directional absorptance

Directional absorptance of a surface, denoted A_Ω, is defined as

$A_{\Omega }={\frac {L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega }^{\mathrm {a} }}{L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega }^{\mathrm {i} }}},$

where

• L_e,Ω^a is the radiance absorbed by that surface;
• L_e,Ωⁱ is the radiance received by that surface.

Spectral directional absorptance

Spectral directional absorptance in frequency and spectral directional absorptance in wavelength of a surface, denoted A_ν,Ω and A_λ,Ω respectively, are defined as

$A_{\nu ,\Omega }={\frac {L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega ,\nu }^{\mathrm {a} }}{L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega ,\nu }^{\mathrm {i} }}},$

$A_{\lambda ,\Omega }={\frac {L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega ,\lambda }^{\mathrm {a} }}{L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega ,\lambda }^{\mathrm {i} }}},$

where

• L_e,Ω,ν^a is the spectral radiance in frequency absorbed by that surface;
• L_e,Ω,νⁱ is the spectral radiance received by that surface;
• L_e,Ω,λ^a is the spectral radiance in wavelength absorbed by that surface;
• L_e,Ω,λⁱ is the spectral radiance in wavelength received by that surface.

SI radiometry units

SI radiometry units

Quantity		Unit		Dimension	Notes
Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol
Radiant energy	Qe	joule	J	M⋅L2⋅T−2	Energy of electromagnetic radiation.
Radiant energy density	we	joule per cubic metre	J/m3	M⋅L−1⋅T−2	Radiant energy per unit volume.
Radiant flux	Φe	watt	W = J/s	M⋅L2⋅T−3	Radiant energy emitted, reflected, transmitted or received, per unit time. This is sometimes also called "radiant power", and called luminosity in Astronomy.
Spectral flux	Φe,ν	watt per hertz	W/Hz	M⋅L2⋅T −2	Radiant flux per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅nm−1.
	Φe,λ	watt per metre	W/m	M⋅L⋅T−3
Radiant intensity	Ie,Ω	watt per steradian	W/sr	M⋅L2⋅T−3	Radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received, per unit solid angle. This is a directional quantity.
Spectral intensity	Ie,Ω,ν	watt per steradian per hertz	W⋅sr−1⋅Hz−1	M⋅L2⋅T−2	Radiant intensity per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅sr−1⋅nm−1. This is a directional quantity.
	Ie,Ω,λ	watt per steradian per metre	W⋅sr−1⋅m−1	M⋅L⋅T−3
Radiance	Le,Ω	watt per steradian per square metre	W⋅sr−1⋅m−2	M⋅T−3	Radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received by a surface, per unit solid angle per unit projected area. This is a directional quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral radiance Specific intensity	Le,Ω,ν	watt per steradian per square metre per hertz	W⋅sr−1⋅m−2⋅Hz−1	M⋅T−2	Radiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅sr−1⋅m−2⋅nm−1. This is a directional quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity".
	Le,Ω,λ	watt per steradian per square metre, per metre	W⋅sr−1⋅m−3	M⋅L−1⋅T−3
Irradiance Flux density	Ee	watt per square metre	W/m2	M⋅T−3	Radiant flux received by a surface per unit area. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral irradiance Spectral flux density	Ee,ν	watt per square metre per hertz	W⋅m−2⋅Hz−1	M⋅T−2	Irradiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity". Non-SI units of spectral flux density include jansky (1 Jy = 10−26 W⋅m−2⋅Hz−1) and solar flux unit (1 sfu = 10−22 W⋅m−2⋅Hz−1 = 104 Jy).
	Ee,λ	watt per square metre, per metre	W/m3	M⋅L−1⋅T−3
Radiosity	Je	watt per square metre	W/m2	M⋅T−3	Radiant flux leaving (emitted, reflected and transmitted by) a surface per unit area. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral radiosity	Je,ν	watt per square metre per hertz	W⋅m−2⋅Hz−1	M⋅T−2	Radiosity of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅m−2⋅nm−1. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity".
	Je,λ	watt per square metre, per metre	W/m3	M⋅L−1⋅T−3
Radiant exitance	Me	watt per square metre	W/m2	M⋅T−3	Radiant flux emitted by a surface per unit area. This is the emitted component of radiosity. "Radiant emittance" is an old term for this quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral exitance	Me,ν	watt per square metre per hertz	W⋅m−2⋅Hz−1	M⋅T−2	Radiant exitance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅m−2⋅nm−1. "Spectral emittance" is an old term for this quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity".
	Me,λ	watt per square metre, per metre	W/m3	M⋅L−1⋅T−3
Radiant exposure	He	joule per square metre	J/m2	M⋅T−2	Radiant energy received by a surface per unit area, or equivalently irradiance of a surface integrated over time of irradiation. This is sometimes also called "radiant fluence".
Spectral exposure	He,ν	joule per square metre per hertz	J⋅m−2⋅Hz−1	M⋅T−1	Radiant exposure of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in J⋅m−2⋅nm−1. This is sometimes also called "spectral fluence".
	He,λ	joule per square metre, per metre	J/m3	M⋅L−1⋅T−2
See also: SI Radiometry Photometry