diff --git a/stardis/plasma/base.py b/stardis/plasma/base.py
index d3c4ec84..017a216e 100644
--- a/stardis/plasma/base.py
+++ b/stardis/plasma/base.py
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ class AlphaLine(ProcessingPlasmaProperty):
     Attributes
     ----------
     alpha_line : Pandas DataFrame, dtype float
-        Sobolev optical depth for each line. Indexed by line.
+        Calculates the alpha (line integrated absorption coefficient in cm^-1) values for each line at each depth point. Indexed by line.
         Columns as zones.
     """
 
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ def calculate(
 
 class AlphaLineVald(ProcessingPlasmaProperty):
     """
+    Calculates the alpha (line integrated absorption coefficient in cm^-1) values for each line at each depth point. Uses VALD linelists for lines. Indexed by line.
     Attributes
     ----------
     alpha_line_from_linelist : DataFrame
@@ -321,6 +322,9 @@ def calculate(
 
 class AlphaLineShortlistVald(ProcessingPlasmaProperty):
     """
+    Calculates the alpha (line integrated absorption coefficient in cm^-1) values for each line at each depth point. Uses VALD shortform linelists for lines. Indexed by line.
+    Subtley different from the full list calculation in that it does not require the upper level degeneracy, and pure number density is not directly calculated as a result.
+
     Attributes
     ----------
     alpha_line_from_linelist : DataFrame
diff --git a/stardis/plasma/molecules.py b/stardis/plasma/molecules.py
index 3fa14f13..b852526d 100644
--- a/stardis/plasma/molecules.py
+++ b/stardis/plasma/molecules.py
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ def calculate(self, t_electrons, atomic_data):
 
 class AlphaLineValdMolecule(ProcessingPlasmaProperty):
     """
-    Calculates the alpha values for each molecular line from Vald at each depth point. This is adapted from the AlphaLineVald calculation.
+    Calculates the alpha (line integrated absorption coefficient in cm^-1) values for each molecular line from Vald at each depth point. This is adapted from the AlphaLineVald calculation.
     Attributes
     ----------
     molecule_alpha_line_from_linelist : DataFrame
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ def calculate(
 
 class AlphaLineShortlistValdMolecule(ProcessingPlasmaProperty):
     """
-    Calculates the alpha values for each molecular line from Vald at each depth point. This is adapted from the AlphaLineShortlistVald calculation.
+    Calculates the alpha (line integrated absorption coefficient in cm^-1) values for each molecular line from Vald at each depth point. This is adapted from the AlphaLineShortlistVald calculation.
 
     Attributes
     ----------