Full Citation: Ross, A. S., & Robinson, T. D. (2019). Simulated Direct Imaging Detection Of Water Vapor For Exo-Earths. Research Notes of the AAS, 3 (11), 177. https://doi.org/10.3847/2515-5172/ab5964.
Abstract: To investigate water vapor detection for exoplanets, we generated reflectance spectra over a grid of water vapor column masses (given by the integral of a species’ mass density over the atmospheric column, yielding the mass of that species per unit area). As the depth of a gas spectral feature is, to a large degree, controlled by the absorption optical depth across the feature, varying the column mass is akin to varying feature strength. Our column mass grid spans 10?5101?g?cm?2, where the total gas and water vapor column masses for Earth are 1.0 × 103 g?cm?2 and 3?g?cm?2, respectively. We adopt 1 bar of total atmospheric pressure, assume molecular nitrogen is the background atmospheric gas, use an Earth-like surface gravity of 10?m?s?2, and assume a gray surface albedo of 0.3. Our calculations generally apply to scenarios where the water vapor column is measured above some opaque “surface” (e.g., a solid surface or planet-wide cloud deck). Quadrature-phase spectra were modeled with the widely used Spectral Mapping Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SMART) model (developed by D.?Crisp; Meadows & Crisp 1996), which is a line-by-line, multiple-scattering radiative transfer tool.
URL: https://doi.org/10.3847/2515-5172/ab5964