Radiant exposure

In radiometry, radiant exposure or fluence is the radiant energy received by a surface per unit area, or equivalently the irradiance of a surface, integrated over time of irradiation, and spectral exposure is the radiant exposure per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. The SI unit of radiant exposure is the joule per square metre (J/m²), while that of spectral exposure in frequency is the joule per square metre per hertz (J⋅m⁻²⋅Hz⁻¹) and that of spectral exposure in wavelength is the joule per square metre per metre (J/m³)—commonly the joule per square metre per nanometre (J⋅m⁻²⋅nm⁻¹).

Mathematical definitions

Radiant exposure

Radiant exposure of a surface, denoted H_e ("e" for "energetic", to avoid confusion with photometric quantities), is defined as^[1] $H_{\mathrm {e} }={\frac {\partial Q_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial A}}=\int _{0}^{T}E_{\mathrm {e} }(t)\,\mathrm {d} t,$ where

∂ is the partial derivative symbol;
Q_e is the radiant energy;
A is the area;
T is the duration of irradiation;
E_e is the irradiance.

Spectral exposure

Spectral exposure in frequency of a surface, denoted H_e,ν, is defined as^[1] $H_{\mathrm {e} ,\nu }={\frac {\partial H_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial \nu }},$ where ν is the frequency.

Spectral exposure in wavelength of a surface, denoted H_e,λ, is defined as^[1] $H_{\mathrm {e} ,\lambda }={\frac {\partial H_{\mathrm {e} }}{\partial \lambda }},$ where λ is the wavelength.

SI radiometry units

SI radiometry units
v
t
e
Quantity		Unit		Dimension	Notes
Name	Symbol^{[nb 1]}	Name	Symbol	Dimension	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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Alternative symbols sometimes seen: $W$ or $E$ for radiant energy, $P$ or $F$ for radiant flux, $I$ for irradiance, $W$ for radiant exitance.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g 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.)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Spectral quantities given per unit wavelength are denoted with suffix "λ".
^ ^a ^b Directional quantities are denoted with suffix "Ω".

References

^ ^a ^b ^c IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version: (2006–) "Radiant exposure". doi:10.1351/goldbook.R05042

[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] 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] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g 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] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Spectral quantities given per unit wavelength are denoted with suffix "λ".

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

[GoldBook-1] IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version: (2006–) "Radiant exposure". doi:10.1351/goldbook.R05042

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Mathematical definitions