Radiative flux

Radiative flux, also known as radiative flux density or radiation flux (or sometimes power flux density^[1]), is the amount of power radiated through a given area, in the form of photons or other elementary particles, typically measured in W/m².^[2] It is used in astronomy to determine the magnitude and spectral class of a star and in meteorology to determine the intensity of the convection in the planetary boundary layer. Radiative flux also acts as a generalization of heat flux, which is equal to the radiative flux when restricted to the infrared spectrum.

When radiative flux is incident on a surface, it is often called irradiance. Flux emitted from a surface may be called radiant exitance or radiant emittance. The ratio of irradiance reflected to the irradiance received by a surface is called albedo.