Modeled flux and polarisation signals of horizontally inhomogeneous exoplanets, applied to Earth--like planets

TL;DR

This paper models flux and polarisation signals of inhomogeneous Earth-like exoplanets, demonstrating that horizontal surface and atmospheric variations significantly affect observable signals, which can aid in characterizing exoplanet surfaces and atmospheres.

Contribution

It introduces an efficient modeling method for flux and polarisation signals of inhomogeneous exoplanets, highlighting the importance of horizontal inhomogeneities in interpreting observational data.

Findings

Horizontal inhomogeneities significantly alter flux and polarisation signals.

Polarisation phase functions are sensitive to surface and atmospheric variations.

Combining flux and polarisation data improves surface and atmospheric characterization.

Abstract

We present modeled flux and linear polarisation signals of starlight that is reflected by spatially unresolved, horizontally inhomogeneous planets and discuss the effects of including horizontal inhomogeneities on the flux and polarisation signals of Earth-like exoplanets. Our code is based on an efficient adding--doubling algorithm, which fully includes multiple scattering by gases and aerosol/cloud particles. We divide a model planet into pixels that are small enough for the local properties of the atmosphere and surface (if present) to be horizontally homogeneous. Given a planetary phase angle, we sum up the reflected total and linearly polarised fluxes across the illuminated and visible part of the planetary disk, taking care to properly rotate the polarized flux vectors towards the same reference plane. We compared flux and polarisation signals of simple horizontally inhomogeneous model planets against results of the weighted sum approximation, in which signals of horizontally homogeneous planets are combined. Apart from cases in which the planet has only a minor inhomogeneity, the signals differ significantly. In particular, the shape of the polarisation phase function appears to be sensitive to the horizontal inhomogeneities. The same holds true for Earth-like model planets with patchy clouds above an ocean and a sandy continent. Our simulations clearly show that horizontal inhomogeneities leave different traces in flux and polarisation signals. Combining flux with polarisation measurements would help retrieving the atmospheric and surface patterns on a planet.