Radiant exitance

In radiometry, radiant exitance is the radiant flux emitted by a surface per unit area, and spectral exitance is the radiant exitance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. This is the emitted component of radiosity. The SI unit of radiant exitance is the watt per square metre (W/m), while that of spectral exitance in frequency is the watt per square metre per hertz (W·m·Hz) and that of spectral exitance in wavelength is the watt per square metre per metre (W·m)—commonly the watt per square metre per nanometre (W·m·nm). The CGS unit erg per square centimeter per second (erg·cm·s) is often used in astronomy. "Radiant emittance" is an old term for this quantity. Radiant exitance is often called "intensity" in branches of physics other than radiometry, but in radiometry this usage leads to confusion with radiant intensity.