Detectability of Atmospheric Climate and Biosignatures with the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) for terrestrial-type Exoplanets

Abstract We investigate the detectability of atmospheric biosignatures with the LIFE mission. Starting with the modern Earth we model the climate, photochemistry and spectra of Earth-like planets over a range of insolation, gravity, humidity, albedo, atmospheric mass and carbon dioxide abundances and investigate detectability of key atmospheric species by LIFE for Earth-like planets assumed to lie at 10pc for the LIFE (20-day viewing) baseline case. We find that atmospheric ozone (O3) abundances are maintained over a range of conditions. The O3 fundamental band is visible for most scenarios studied but is weakened for exoplanets with cooler central stars. Additional potential biosignatures such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and chloromethane (CH3Cl) are favored for low UV conditions e.g. exoplanets orbiting cooler central stars or having strong atmospheric shielding. Regarding spectral signatures, CH4 and water (H2O) signals from 6-8 μm are evident in most scenarios, as is the carbon dioxide (CO2) 15 μm band, which strengthens for low-O2 scenarios associated with upper atmosphere cooling. Considering the LIFE baseline case with 20-day viewing, H2O is retrievable with a confidence level (CL) of up to 3σ for the high (90%, 0.9 vmr) CO2 scenario, and with ∼2σ or less for the other scenarios. N2O is not be observable with a CL sigma mostly in the range 1-2. CH4 features a CL sigma detectability range of 2.3-4.4. O3 is detectable with a CL (>3σ) in most scenarios (including the low-ozone Proterozoic) except for the extremely low O3 Archaean scenario and the low pressure atmosphere scenario.

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Publication Details

Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2025-11-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1878
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
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article

Detectability of Atmospheric Climate and Biosignatures with the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) for terrestrial-type Exoplanets

H. Rauer, John Lee Grenfell, A. M. S. Smith, Thea Kozakis et al.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
article

Detectability of Atmospheric Climate and Biosignatures with the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) for terrestrial-type Exoplanets

H. Rauer, John Lee Grenfell, A. M. S. Smith, Thea Kozakis, J. Cabrera, Konstantin Herbst, Miriam Sinnhuber, Benjamin Taysum, Eleonora Alei, Andreas Bartenschlager, Sarah Rugheimer, Lena Noack, Hamish Innes, Iris van Zelst, Sascha P. Quanz, Szilárd Csizmadia, Tim Lichtenberg, Nicolas Iro, Franz Schreier
article en

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the detectability of atmospheric biosignatures with the LIFE mission. Starting with the modern Earth we model the climate, photochemistry and spectra of Earth-like planets over a range of insolation, gravity, humidity, albedo, atmospheric mass and carbon dioxide abundances and investigate detectability of key atmospheric species by LIFE for Earth-like planets assumed to lie at 10pc for the LIFE (20-day viewing) baseline case. We find that atmospheric ozone (O3) abundances are maintained over a range of conditions. The O3 fundamental band is visible for most scenarios studied but is weakened for exoplanets with cooler central stars. Additional potential biosignatures such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and chloromethane (CH3Cl) are favored for low UV conditions e.g. exoplanets orbiting cooler central stars or having strong atmospheric shielding. Regarding spectral signatures, CH4 and water (H2O) signals from 6-8 μm are evident in most scenarios, as is the carbon dioxide (CO2) 15 μm band, which strengthens for low-O2 scenarios associated with upper atmosphere cooling. Considering the LIFE baseline case with 20-day viewing, H2O is retrievable with a confidence level (CL) of up to 3σ for the high (90%, 0.9 vmr) CO2 scenario, and with ∼2σ or less for the other scenarios. N2O is not be observable with a CL sigma mostly in the range 1-2. CH4 features a CL sigma detectability range of 2.3-4.4. O3 is detectable with a CL (>3σ) in most scenarios (including the low-ozone Proterozoic) except for the extremely low O3 Archaean scenario and the low pressure atmosphere scenario.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE), University of Groningen (NL), University of Oslo (NO), York University (CA), Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (CH), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE), ETH Zurich (CH), Institute of Particle Physics (CA), Royal Observatory (GB), Planetary Systems (United States) (US), Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (ES), Technische Universität Berlin (DE), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), University of Edinburgh (GB)
Openalex Percentile: Top 77%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
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