Abstract
This paper proposes an empirical model, "Albedo model" to estimate the change in the albedo, al, of Chao soil associated with salt accumulation on the soil surface and the volumetric water content, θ, of the soil surface. A basic element of the model is derived from experimental results by a new method, "Box method". It is seen from the box method that (1) al in a dry state is larger than that in a wet state but the difference becomes small as the crystallized salt mass, Mcrystal, increases, (2) al decreases with the increase in θ, for 0.05≤θ≤0.30. From these results and a similarity law of the dependency of al on θ, the albedo model was created in this study. The model made it possible to calculate the albedo of Chao soil with an arbitrary θ and Mcrystal.
