The Earth as an extrasolar planet: The vegetation spectral signature today and during the last Quaternary climatic extrema

TL;DR

This study assesses the detectability of Earth's vegetation spectral signature, the Vegetation Red-Edge, during past climatic extremes, demonstrating its persistence and implications for detecting life on exoplanets with different climates.

Contribution

It evaluates the Vegetation Red-Edge detectability during the Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene, using past climate models to inform exoplanet biosignature detection strategies.

Findings

VRE remains detectable during past climatic extremes.

Holocene optimum increases VRE detectability due to greener Sahara.

LGM's large ice caps decrease vegetation detectability.

Abstract

The so-called Vegetation Red-Edge (VRE), a sharp increase in the reflectance around $700 nm$, is a characteristic of vegetation spectra, and can therefore be used as a biomarker if it can be detected in an unresolved extrasolar Earth-like planet integrated reflectance spectrum. Here we investigate the potential for detection of vegetation spectra during the last Quaternary climatic extrema, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Holocene optimum, for which past climatic simulations have been made. By testing the VRE detectability during these extrema when Earth's climate and biomes maps were different from today, we are able to test the vegetation detectability on a terrestrial planet different from our modern Earth. Data from the Biome3.5 model have been associated to visible GOME spectra for each biome and cloud cover to derive Earth's integrated spectra for given Earth phases and observer positions. The VRE is then measured. Results show that the vegetation remains detectable during the last climatic extrema. Compared to current Earth, the Holocene optimum with a greener Sahara slightly increases the mean VRE on one hand, while on the other hand, the large ice cap over the northern Hemisphere during the LGM decreases vegetation detectability. We finally discuss the detectability of the VRE in the context of recently proposed space missions.