planet on a black background orbiting a star.

Atmospheres

Earth’s atmosphere is key to the survival of living things. The air we breathe is a mixture of different elements and molecules. Our water supply is generated by a cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Climate and weather patterns influence where and how we live. Atmospheres are complex systems of thermodynamics and chemistry, powered by radiation from a star. To find life in the galaxy, we must start by looking at atmospheres — they’re the only features we can see with our telescopes. Exoplanetary atmospheres are like nothing we’ve seen before; some have temperatures that reach thousands of degrees, while others have more water vapor than there is water in all of Earth’s oceans. SEEC scientists are using computer simulations and models to better understand the dynamics of atmospheres outside our solar system.


Clouds and Hazes: A critical factor to assess rocky exoplanet habitability with JWST?

Investigators: Giada Arney, Thomas Fauchez, Michael Way, Avi Mandell, Ravi Kopparapu


Simulating Factors Influencing Habitable Exoplanets with ROCKE3D

Investigators: Scott Guzewich


Using TESS to Illuminate the Atmospheric Properties of the Hot, Puffy Saturn KELT-11b

Investigators: Knicole Colon, Tom Barclay, Eric Lopez, Avi Mandell, John Ahlers, Emily Gilbert


Advancing the retrieval capabilities of PSG for exoplanets with AI and Machine Learning

Investigators: Geronimo L. Villanueva, Giuliano Liuzzi


Effect of Spin-orbit Resonances Near the Outer Edge of the Habitable Zone

Investigators: Michael Way, Chris Colose, Eric Wolf


Exotic Ices on Terrestrial Worlds

Investigators: Michael Way, Igor Aleinov, Eric Wolf


Moving to the edge: modeling condensable species & chemical processes of planets at habitable zone boundaries

Investigators: Michael Way, Igor Aleinov, Kostas Tsigaridis


Investigating Impacts of Stellar Wind and XUV Emission on Atmospheric Loss

Investigators: Alison Farrish, Katherine Garcia-Sage, Sarah Peacock


Exploring Temperature Dependence on Optical Properties

Investigators: Erika Kohler, Vincent Kofman, Jacopo Terragni


The End of Habitability: How large scale volcanism can end a clement climate

Investigators: Michael Way, Kostas Tsigaridis


Development of Radiative Kernels in ROCKE-3D for Exoplanetary Climate Studies

Investigators: Chris Colose, Eric Wolf, Michael Way


Atmospheric Characterization of the K-dwarf Multiplanetary System TOI-178

Investigators: Dana Louie, Knicole Colón, Geronimo Villanueva


Expanding TidalPy: Coupling the Interior, Thermal, Orbital, and Atmospheric Evolution in Exoplanets

Investigators: Joe Renaud, Avi Mandell, Wade Henning, Sander Goossens


Synergy Between Ground and Space -based Observatories to Optimize Exoplanet Atmospheric Characterization

Investigators: Thomas Fauchez, Geronimo Villanueva, Vincent Kofman


The Roadmap to Life Elsewhere: Optimizing a Biosignature Decision Tree Search Strategy for Earth-like Exoplanet Characterization

Investigators: Amber Young, Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Giada Arney, Jaime Crouse


Building the Interior-Atmosphere Bridge: A New Tidally-Driven Volatile Outgassing Model for Terrestrial Exoplanets

Investigators: Joe P. Renaud, Giada Arney, Monica Vidaurri, Wade G. Henning


Training materials for the Planetary Spectrum Generator

Investigators: Vincent Kofman, Geronimo Villanueva, Sara Faggi, Thomas Fauchez, Natasha Latouf, Avi Mandell


The CUISINES menu for FY25 and FY26

Investigators: Thomas Fauchez, Linda Sohl, Geronimo Villanueva, Sonny Harman, Kostas Tsigaridis, Amber Young


Constraining what we can learn about habitable planets around K dwarfs with HWO spectroscopy using 3D GCM models and PSG

Investigators: Vincent Kofman, Avi Mandell, Ravi Kopparapu, Ana Lobo, Geronimo Villanueva, Natasha Latouf, Michael Himes


Improving ultraviolet studies of atmospheric escape from sub-Neptune planets

Investigators: Keighley Rockcliffe, Allison Youngblood


The Ice-House Transition on Ancient Mars and Implications for Habitable Planets

Investigators: Michael Way, Ondrea Clarkson, Igor Aleinov, David Brain