Radiant exitance

Last updated January 30, 2023

In radiometry, radiant exitance or radiant emittance is the radiant flux emitted by a surface per unit area, whereas spectral exitance or spectral emittance is the radiant exitance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. This is the emitted component of radiosity. The SI unit of radiant exitance is the watt per square metre (W/m²), while that of spectral exitance in frequency is the watt per square metre per hertz (W·m⁻²·Hz⁻¹) and that of spectral exitance in wavelength is the watt per square metre per metre (W·m⁻³)—commonly the watt per square metre per nanometre (W·m⁻²·nm⁻¹). The CGS unit erg per square centimeter per second (erg·cm⁻²·s⁻¹) is often used in astronomy. Radiant exitance is often called "intensity" in branches of physics other than radiometry, but in radiometry this usage leads to confusion with radiant intensity.

Mathematical definitions

Radiant exitance

Radiant exitance of a surface, denoted $M e$ ("e" for "energetic", to avoid confusion with photometric quantities), is defined as^[1]

M_{\mathrm {e} }={\frac {\partial \Phi _{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial A}},

where $\partial$ is the partial derivative symbol, $Φ e$ is the radiant flux emitted, and $A$ is the surface area.

If we want to talk about the radiant flux received by a surface, we speak of irradiance.

The radiant exitance of a black surface, according to the Stefan–Boltzmann law, is equal to:

M_{\mathrm {e} }^{\circ }=\sigma T^{4},

where $σ$ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, and $T$ is the temperature of that surface. For a real surface, the radiant exitance is equal to:

M_{\mathrm {e} }=\varepsilon M_{\mathrm {e} }^{\circ }=\varepsilon \sigma T^{4},

where $ε$ is the emissivity of that surface.

Spectral exitance

Spectral exitance in frequency of a surface, denoted M_e,ν, is defined as^[1]

M_{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }={\frac {\partial M_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial \nu }},

where $ν$ is the frequency.

Spectral exitance in wavelength of a surface, denoted M_e,λ, is defined as^[1]

M_{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }={\frac {\partial M_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial \lambda }},

where $λ$ is the wavelength.

The spectral exitance of a black surface around a given frequency or wavelength, according to the Lambert's cosine law and the Planck's law, is equal to:

{\begin{aligned}M_{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }^{\circ }&=\pi L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega ,\nu }^{\circ }={\frac {2\pi h\nu ^{3}}{c^{2}}}{\frac {1}{e^{\frac {h\nu }{kT}}-1}},\\[8pt]M_{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }^{\circ }&=\pi L_{\mathrm {e} ,\Omega ,\lambda }^{\circ }={\frac {2\pi hc^{2}}{\lambda ^{5}}}{\frac {1}{e^{\frac {hc}{\lambda kT}}-1}},\end{aligned}}

where $h$ is the Planck constant, $ν$ is the frequency, $λ$ is the wavelength, $k$ is the Boltzmann constant, $c$ is the speed of light in the medium, $T$ is the temperature of that surface. For a real surface, the spectral exitance is equal to:

{\begin{aligned}M_{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }&=\varepsilon M_{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }^{\circ }={\frac {2\pi h\varepsilon \nu ^{3}}{c^{2}}}{\frac {1}{e^{\frac {h\nu }{kT}}-1}},\\[8pt]M_{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }&=\varepsilon M_{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }^{\circ }={\frac {2\pi h\varepsilon c^{2}}{\lambda ^{5}}}{\frac {1}{e^{\frac {hc}{\lambda kT}}-1}}.\end{aligned}}

SI radiometry units

SI radiometry units
v
t
e
Quantity		Unit		Dimension	Notes
Name	Symbol^{[nb 1]}	Name	Symbol	Symbol	Notes
Radiant energy	Q_e^{[nb 2]}	joule	J	M⋅L²⋅T⁻²	Energy of electromagnetic radiation.
Radiant energy density	w_e	joule per cubic metre	J/m³	M⋅L⁻¹⋅T⁻²	Radiant energy per unit volume.
Radiant flux	Φ_e^{[nb 2]}	watt	W = J/s	M⋅L²⋅T⁻³	Radiant energy emitted, reflected, transmitted or received, per unit time. This is sometimes also called "radiant power", and called luminosity in Astronomy.
Spectral flux	Φ_e,ν^{[nb 3]}	watt per hertz	W/Hz	M⋅L²⋅T⁻²	Radiant flux per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅nm⁻¹.
Spectral flux	Φ_e,λ^{[nb 4]}	watt per metre	W/m	M⋅L⋅T⁻³
Radiant intensity	I_e,Ω^{[nb 5]}	watt per steradian	W/sr	M⋅L²⋅T⁻³	Radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received, per unit solid angle. This is a directional quantity.
Spectral intensity	I_e,Ω,ν^{[nb 3]}	watt per steradian per hertz	W⋅sr⁻¹⋅Hz⁻¹	M⋅L²⋅T⁻²	Radiant intensity per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅sr⁻¹⋅nm⁻¹. This is a directional quantity.
Spectral intensity	I_e,Ω,λ^{[nb 4]}	watt per steradian per metre	W⋅sr⁻¹⋅m⁻¹	M⋅L⋅T⁻³
Radiance	L_e,Ω^{[nb 5]}	watt per steradian per square metre	W⋅sr⁻¹⋅m⁻²	M⋅T⁻³	Radiant flux emitted, reflected, transmitted or received by a surface, per unit solid angle per unit projected area. This is a directional quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral radiance Specific intensity	L_e,Ω,ν^{[nb 3]}	watt per steradian per square metre per hertz	W⋅sr⁻¹⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹	M⋅T⁻²	Radiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅sr⁻¹⋅m⁻²⋅nm⁻¹. This is a directional quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity".
Spectral radiance Specific intensity	L_e,Ω,λ^{[nb 4]}	watt per steradian per square metre, per metre	W⋅sr⁻¹⋅m⁻³	M⋅L⁻¹⋅T⁻³
Irradiance Flux density	E_e^{[nb 2]}	watt per square metre	W/m²	M⋅T⁻³	Radiant flux received by a surface per unit area. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral irradiance Spectral flux density	E_e,ν^{[nb 3]}	watt per square metre per hertz	W⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹	M⋅T⁻²	Irradiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity". Non-SI units of spectral flux density include jansky (1 Jy = 10⁻²⁶ W⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹) and solar flux unit (1 sfu = 10⁻²² W⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹ = 10⁴ Jy).
Spectral irradiance Spectral flux density	E_e,λ^{[nb 4]}	watt per square metre, per metre	W/m³	M⋅L⁻¹⋅T⁻³
Radiosity	J_e^{[nb 2]}	watt per square metre	W/m²	M⋅T⁻³	Radiant flux leaving (emitted, reflected and transmitted by) a surface per unit area. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral radiosity	J_e,ν^{[nb 3]}	watt per square metre per hertz	W⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹	M⋅T⁻²	Radiosity of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅m⁻²⋅nm⁻¹. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity".
Spectral radiosity	J_e,λ^{[nb 4]}	watt per square metre, per metre	W/m³	M⋅L⁻¹⋅T⁻³
Radiant exitance	M_e^{[nb 2]}	watt per square metre	W/m²	M⋅T⁻³	Radiant flux emitted by a surface per unit area. This is the emitted component of radiosity. "Radiant emittance" is an old term for this quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "intensity".
Spectral exitance	M_e,ν^{[nb 3]}	watt per square metre per hertz	W⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹	M⋅T⁻²	Radiant exitance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in W⋅m⁻²⋅nm⁻¹. "Spectral emittance" is an old term for this quantity. This is sometimes also confusingly called "spectral intensity".
Spectral exitance	M_e,λ^{[nb 4]}	watt per square metre, per metre	W/m³	M⋅L⁻¹⋅T⁻³
Radiant exposure	H_e	joule per square metre	J/m²	M⋅T⁻²	Radiant energy received by a surface per unit area, or equivalently irradiance of a surface integrated over time of irradiation. This is sometimes also called "radiant fluence".
Spectral exposure	H_e,ν^{[nb 3]}	joule per square metre per hertz	J⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹	M⋅T⁻¹	Radiant exposure of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength. The latter is commonly measured in J⋅m⁻²⋅nm⁻¹. This is sometimes also called "spectral fluence".
Spectral exposure	H_e,λ^{[nb 4]}	joule per square metre, per metre	J/m³	M⋅L⁻¹⋅T⁻²
See also: SI · Radiometry · Photometry

↑ Standards organizations recommend that radiometric quantities should be denoted with suffix "e" (for "energetic") to avoid confusion with photometric or photon quantities.
1 2 3 4 5 Alternative symbols sometimes seen: W or E for radiant energy, P or F for radiant flux, I for irradiance, W for radiant exitance.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Spectral quantities given per unit frequency are denoted with suffix " ν " (Greek letter nu, not to be confused with a letter "v", indicating a photometric quantity.)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Spectral quantities given per unit wavelength are denoted with suffix " λ ".
1 2 Directional quantities are denoted with suffix "Ω".

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References

1 2 3 "Thermal insulation — Heat transfer by radiation — Physical quantities and definitions". ISO 9288:1989. ISO catalogue. 1989. Retrieved 2015-03-15.

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[note-suffix-e-2] Standards organizations recommend that radiometric quantities should be denoted with suffix "e" (for "energetic") to avoid confusion with photometric or photon quantities.

[note-alternative-symbol-radiometric-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Alternative symbols sometimes seen: W or E for radiant energy, P or F for radiant flux, I for irradiance, W for radiant exitance.

[note-suffix-nu-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Spectral quantities given per unit frequency are denoted with suffix " ν " (Greek letter nu, not to be confused with a letter "v", indicating a photometric quantity.)

[note-suffix-lambda-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Spectral quantities given per unit wavelength are denoted with suffix " λ ".

[note-suffix-omega-6] 1 2 Directional quantities are denoted with suffix "Ω".

[ISO_9288-1989-1] 1 2 3 "Thermal insulation — Heat transfer by radiation — Physical quantities and definitions". ISO 9288:1989. ISO catalogue. 1989. Retrieved 2015-03-15.

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Radiant exitance

Contents

Mathematical definitions