Albedo reflectance and bi-hemispherical reflectance (e.g.,). These calculations are based on the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), which describes how the reflectance of a given surface depends on the view angle of the observer and the solar angle. BDRF can facilitate translations of observations of reflectance into albedo. Earth's average surface temperature due to its albedo and the greenhouse effect is currently about 15 °C. If Earth were frozen entirely (and hence be more reflective), the average temperature of the planet would drop below −40 °C. If only the continental land masses became covered by glaciers, the mean temperature of the
Geometric albedo case of Enceladus). Light is preferentially reflected straight back to its source even at low angle of incidence such as on the limb or from a slope, whereas a Lambertian surface would scatter the radiation much more broadly. A geometric albedo above unity means that the intensity of light scattered back per unit solid angle towards the source is higher than is possible for any Lambertian surface. For the hypothetical case of a plane surface, the geometric albedo is the albedo of the surface when the illumination is provided by a beam of radiation that comes in perpendicular to the