In order to evaluate the reflective performance of colored pavement materials accurately

factors affecting the field measurement of albedo were tested by a double pyranometer outdoors

which include solar radiation intensity

height of pyranometer

incident angle

and surrounding conditions. A new albedometer for laboratory testing of albedo and internal temperature was developed to overcome the negative effects of field measurements. Six common colored pavement materials were tested and compared with cement concrete and asphalt mixture. Results show that solar incident intensity and incident angle had great influence on the field measurement of albedo. The greater the intensity and incident angle were

the greater the measured albedo was. The albedo of red

yellow

blue

and green pavement materials was 20%-25%

which was higher than that of open-graded asphalt mixture (5.8%)

dense-graded asphalt mixture (5.4%)

and porous cement concrete (16%)

and slightly lower than that of dense cement concrete (32%). Under the same radiation conditions

the internal temperature of the colored pavement material was generally lower than that of asphalt mixture and porous cement concrete

whereas green pavement materials had the best cooling effect.