Planet Earth has high reflectivity because much of it is covered by snow, ice, sand, and water. The results of this experiment suggest that dark-colored parts of the earth, such as forests and green-crop land, would have lower reflectivity.

How reflective is the earth?

Using satellite measurements accumulated since the late 1970s, scientists estimate Earth's average albedo is about about 0.30. The maps above show how the reflectivity of Earth—the amount of sunlight reflected back into space—changed between March 1, 2000, and December 31, 2011.

Which planet is most reflective?

When sunlight strikes a planet, some of the light is absorbed by the planet's surface or atmosphere – and some is reflected. Albedo is a comparison between how much light strikes an object – and how much is reflected. As you might have guessed, Venus has the highest albedo of any major planet in our solar system.