Definitions
  • Radiant flux (W) - the rate at which light energy is emitted
  • Steradian (sr) - a unit of solid (3D) angle
    (there are 4 p steradians in a sphere)
  • Radiant Intensity (W/sr) - the rate that light energy is radiated through a given solid angle
  • Radiance (W/(sr m2)) - the rate of energy radiated through a given solid angle as seen reflected from a surface (i.e. the hemisphere is projected onto the surface)
  • Irradiance (W/m2) - the rate of incident or incoming energy at a surface point per unit surface area.
Lecture 17   Slide 16   6.837 Fall '00