How surfaces shape the climate of habitable exoplanets

TL;DR

This study investigates how various planetary surface types influence the climate, atmospheric composition, and spectra of Earth-like exoplanets, emphasizing the importance of wavelength-dependent surface albedo in climate modeling.

Contribution

It introduces an updated 1D climate-photochemistry model that accounts for surface albedo variations across different host star spectra, enhancing the accuracy of exoplanet habitability assessments.

Findings

Surface albedo significantly affects planetary climate and spectra.

Wavelength-dependent surface albedo is crucial for accurate climate modeling.

Surface properties alter atmospheric composition depending on star type.

Abstract

Large ground- and space-based telescopes will be able to observe Earth-like planets in the near future. We explore how different planetary surfaces can strongly influence the climate, atmospheric composition, and remotely detectable spectra of terrestrial rocky exoplanets in the habitable zone depending on the host star's incident irradiation spectrum for a range of Sun-like host stars from F0V to K7V. We update a well-tested 1D climate-photochemistry model to explore the changes of a planetary environment for different surfaces for different host stars. Our results show that using a wavelength-dependent surface albedo is critical for modeling potentially habitable rocky exoplanets.