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Science 6 May 2005:
Vol. 308. no. 5723, p. 825
DOI: 10.1126/science.1106484
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Brevia

Changes in Earth's Albedo Measured by Satellite

Bruce A. Wielicki,1* Takmeng Wong,1 Norman Loeb,2 Patrick Minnis,1 Kory Priestley,1 Robert Kandel3

NASA global satellite data provide observations of Earth's albedo, i.e., the fraction of incident solar radiation that is reflected back to space. The satellite data show that the last four years are within natural variability and fail to confirm the 6% relative increase in albedo inferred from observations of earthshine from the moon. Longer global satellite records will be required to discern climate trends in Earth's albedo.

1 NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Boulevard, Hampton, VA 23681, USA.
2 Department of Atmospheric Science, Hampton University, Hampton, VA, USA.
3 Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique du CNRS, Palaiseau, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: b.a.wielicki{at}nasa.gov

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)