Meeting Abstract
A primary objective of astrobiology is to identify habitable exoplanets. Here, I apply an integrative approach between astrophysics, climate modeling, and ecophysiology to explore the relationship between alien environments and terrestrial life. I discuss the development of a novel system to be used as a tool to assess the habitable regions on exoplanet surfaces. In this model, simulated exoplanet environments are convolved with a real biological layer. Exoplanet environments are simulated using the climate model, Resolving Orbital and Climate Keys of Earth and Exoplanet Environments (ROCKE-3D, Way et al. 2018). ROCKE-3D is a fully-coupled 3-dimensional oceanic-atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) featuring interactive atmospheric chemistry, aerosols, the carbon cycle, vegetation, oceans, sea ice, and land surface components. The GCM output is coupled in the astroecology model with empirically-derived thermal performance curves of 1,627 cell strains representing extremophiles from all six Kingdoms, termed the biokinetic spectrum for temperature (Corkrey et al. 2016). The spectrum arises from a meta-analysis of cellular growth rate as a function of temperature. In this agent-based model, created with the software NetLogo, the survivability of an organism is determined by its thermal response to simulated temperatures. This model can be applied to predict exoplanet conditions compatible with terrestrial-based thermophysiology, as well as surface maps highlighting potentially habitable regions. Life, however, is dependent upon multiple variables including the presence of liquid water, nutrient content, and an energy source. Caveats of the methodology and application of results are discussed with implications for observable biosignatures.
