Spectral irradiance
In radiometry, irradiance is the radiant flux (power) received by a surface per unit area. The SI unit of irradiance is the watt per square metre (W/m2). The CGS unit erg per square centimetre per second (erg·cm−2·s−1) is often used in astronomy. Irradiance is often called "intensity" in branches of physics other than radiometry, but in radiometry this usage leads to confusion with radiant intensity.
Spectral irradiance is the irradiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. The two forms have different dimensions: spectral irradiance of a frequency spectrum is measured in watts per square metre per hertz (W·m−2·Hz−1), while spectral irradiance of a wavelength spectrum is measured in watts per square metre per metre (W·m−3), or more commonly watts per square metre per nanometre (W·m−2·nm−1).
Irradiance of a surface, denoted Ee ("e" for "energetic", to avoid confusion with photometric quantities), is defined as
where
If we want to talk about the radiant flux emitted by a surface, we speak of radiant exitance.
Spectral irradiance in frequency of a surface, denoted Ee,ν, is defined as
where ν is the frequency.
Spectral irradiance in wavelength of a surface, denoted Ee,λ, is defined as
where λ is the wavelength.
Irradiance of a surface is also, according to the definition of radiant flux, equal to the time-average of the component of the Poynting vector perpendicular to the surface:
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