A method to derive surface albedo from satellite measurement is developed and discussed. In this method, atmospheric correction is performed by solving the radiative transfer equation, and calibration coefficients for the satellite radiometer are determined by the measurements over two reference sites; i. e., sea surface and snow-coverd surface. The sensitivity study indicates that the calculated surface albedo is not sensitive to the assumed surface albedo values of the reference sites, but sensitive to the optical properties of atmosphere. The proposed method is tested over Sapporo and Tokyo area, using NOAA AVHRR data and surface albedo maps for snow-covered area and no snow-covered area are derived. The method is shown to be relevalent for the study of urban heat island.