Tanvi D. 2024 | BASIS Independent Fremont
- Project Title: Trappist Exoplanetary System: Creating 3D Maps of the Atmospheres of the Exoplanets
- BASIS Independent Advisor: Dr Sanhita Dixit
- Internship Location: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland
- Onsite Mentor: Dr. Vincent Kofman
Exoplanet Trappist-1e, according to past research, has a high likelihood of hosting liquid water and possibly having an atmosphere and climate. Studies have investigated the temperature range that the planet’s surface might have and what types of clouds may be present. In particular, the Trappist Habitability Atmospheres Intercomparison (THAI) project investigated how several different global climate models (GCMs) represent Trappist-1e, consisting of three-dimensional atmosphere files that include the abundance of different molecules and the abundance of liquid and ice water clouds at high-spatial resolution across the planets’ atmosphere. In this project, I leverage these GCMs and create spectral simulations with the GlobES module on NASA Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG) to investigate the effects of the clouds on the visibility of the molecules O2, O3, and H2O in its atmosphere. Detecting these molecules are strong indicators of biosignatures that would bring greater interest to this planet for the larger scientific community. This research will contribute to a greater understanding of the evolution of planetary systems and their potential for supporting life, which can address the question of how life came to be on Earth.