What are Radiance and Irradiance and how do they differ?

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SUMMARY

Radiance and Irradiance are two fundamental concepts in the field of photometry. Radiance refers to the power emitted from a source per unit area into a specific solid angle, while Irradiance measures the power received on a surface per unit area. The distinction lies in the perspective: Radiance is concerned with the emission from a source, whereas Irradiance focuses on the power incident on a surface. Understanding these definitions is crucial for applications in lighting design and optical engineering.

PREREQUISITES
  • Basic understanding of photometry concepts
  • Familiarity with solid angles in geometry
  • Knowledge of power and energy units in physics
  • Experience with optical systems and their measurements
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  • Research the mathematical definitions of Radiance and Irradiance in detail
  • Explore applications of Radiance in lighting design software
  • Learn about the relationship between Radiance, Irradiance, and reflectance
  • Investigate measurement techniques for Radiance and Irradiance using photometers
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Students and professionals in optics, lighting designers, and engineers involved in photometric measurements and analysis will benefit from this discussion.

JJ123
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Hey, I'm having trouble working out what Radiance and Irradiance are, all the definitions I get are along the lines of something really technical like:

"For a point of radiant energy, Radiant Intensity, in a specified direction, per unit projected area: Le=(dIe/dA)*Cos(theta) where A is the area and theta is the angle between the specified direction and the surface".

Would you be kind enough to give me a very simple wordy definition of what these are and the difference between the two? Thank you SO much.
 
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Radiance is the power from the source per area into a certain solid angle.
Irradiance is the power onto a surface per area

(hint, Irriadiance = I = input )
 

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