Diffuse reflection

Diffuse reflection is the scattering of reflected light across many directions by a surface whose microscopic irregularities redirect incoming rays. It contrasts with mirror-like specular reflection.

Lambertian reflectance: An idealized reflection pattern whose radiance is independent of viewing direction and whose apparent brightness follows the cosine of the illumination angle. It is the standard ideal model for perfectly diffuse reflection.
Reflection (physics): The return of a wave from a boundary into the medium from which it came. Diffuse reflection is one directional pattern of reflected light.
Colorimetry: The science of measuring and specifying color in ways related to human vision. Diffuse surface reflection underlies many object-color measurements.
Scattering: The redirection of waves or particles through interactions with matter or inhomogeneities. Diffuse reflection is a surface-associated form of directional redistribution.
Bidirectional reflectance distribution function: A function describing how a surface distributes reflected light between incident and outgoing directions. It measures diffuse reflection alongside any directional highlights.
Light: Electromagnetic radiation visible to the human eye, often modeled as rays or waves. Its propagation and direction are what surfaces redirect.
Spectrophotometry: Measurement of how a material interacts with light across wavelengths. Diffuse-reflectance instruments estimate spectral properties of scattering samples.
Diffuse transmission: The passage of light through a material followed by scattering into many outgoing directions. It spreads transmitted light, unlike diffuse reflection's returned light.
Surface roughness: The small-scale deviations of a surface from an ideal geometric shape. Microscopic slopes redirect reflected rays into different directions.
Absorption (electromagnetic radiation): The transfer of electromagnetic energy into matter, reducing the radiation that continues or leaves the material. Absorbed light does not contribute to the reflected distribution.

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