Light is reflected in a single direction. The angle on reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. Sometimes called 'mirror' reflection Radar instruments have a hard time identifying water bodies because the wavelength is much longer than the general character of the surface roughness. Specular reflectance helps and hinders remote sensing depending where the sensor is situated relative to the outgoing radiation. Also called isotropic or lambertian reflectance.
Many natural surfaces act as a diffuse reflector to some extent.
A perfectly diffuse reflector is termed a lambertian surface and the reflective brightness is the same when observed from any angle. Have both specular and diffuse properties depending on the integrated surface roughness. Transmission is wavelength dependent Transmitting light is not significantly attenuated Transmittance is measured as the ratio of transmitted radiation to the incident radiation. Transmittance therefore is the proportional amount of incident radiation passing through a surface. Plant leaves can transmit significant amounts of infrared radiation, but cannot transmit visible light as strongly.