The purpose of this study is to develop a model for the albedo of a cloud bar array over a reflecting surface. The model is based on the discrete-ordinates method for evaluation of radiant exchange between surfaces separated by a radiatively transparent medium. The model assumes that the clouds are opaque and accounts for the cloud geometry, the separation between the clouds, the height of the clouds above the ground, and the ground reflectance. The cloud bar array is irradiated by direct and diffuse components of solar energy. Cloud albedos are greater than the ground reflectance for ground surfaces with low reflectances and are less than the ground reflectance for highly reflecting ground surfaces but may be greater than the albedo for a plane layer cloud. In view of these findings, care must be exercised to account properly for the effects of cloud geometry and ground reflectance when cloud albedos are determined. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993