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Lasers, Radiance vs Irradiance



 I talked to our laser safety specialist about the units used. He refered me to
 ANSI Z136.1-1993, and then added his personal perspective.

 The ANSI standard has a rather lengthy series of definitions, measurement
 guides and figures that relate to this--it certainly confused me. The laser
 jock simplified it this way. Watts per centimeter squared is used to measure
 irradiance-how much radiant flux strikes a surface. Watts per steradian per
 centimeter squared is used to measure radiance-how much radiant flux is
 scattered back from a diffuse surface. The standard defines how this is to be
 measured and what solid angle or circular area is to be used in calculating
 the radiance.

 (By the way, I thought the top two reasons for being a CHP were:
   2) It's easy to spell.
   1) It's safer than being a postal worker.)

 This reflects my opinions only, not the opinions of my employer.

 Thanks,
 Richard W. Edwards, Analyst          The Boeing Company
 Phone: (206) 393-1999                P.O. Box 3707, M/S 6Y-38
 Fax:   (206) 393-3060                Seattle, WA  98124-2207