Monthly Mean Albedo Maps
The figure below shows the albedo (left panel) and albedo anomaly (right panel) as measured by NOAA GOES retrievals. Albedo is defined as the amount (here in units of percent) of incoming solar radiation reflected back to space. Clouds play the dominant role in the reflection of solar radiation and for this reason albedo is a convienent proxy for cloud cover (e.g., more than normal cloud cover will result in larger than normal values of albedo).

Monthly mean albedo maps from 1996 to present. By default, this page will load the most recent month with available data. Click on the links below for to view figures for different months.

1996 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1997 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1998 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1999 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2000 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2001 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2002 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2003 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2004 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2005 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2006 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2007 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2008 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2009 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2010 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2011 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2012 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2013 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2014 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2015 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2017 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2018 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2019 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2020 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2021 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec


Albedo Anomalies

Questions and Comments:

Sam Iacobellis
Division of Climate, Atmospheric Sciences, and Physical Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
La Jolla, CA 92093
sam@ucsd.edu

California-Nevada Climate Applications Program