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Everything about Reflectance

Capacity of an object to reflect light

The reflectance of the surface of a material is its effectiveness in reflecting radiant energy. It is the fraction of incident electromagnetic power that is reflected at the boundary. Reflectance is a component of the response of the electronic structure of the material to the electromagnetic field of light, and is in general a function of the frequency, or wavelength, of the light, its polarization, and the angle of incidence. The dependence of reflectance on the wavelength is called a reflectance spectrum or spectral reflectance curve. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: ReflectanceA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Use and misuse of the Kubelka-Munk function to obtain the band gap energy from diffuse reflectance measurementsInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: Rights of ManThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Standard Normal Variate Transformation and De-Trending of Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance SpectraCited 3,665 times
  5. Go sideways: TransmittanceA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: AbsorptanceA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun The ratio of the flux reflected to that incident on a surface.

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics