PROJECT SUMMARY THE ADVENT OF SENSITIVE HIGH-RESOLUTION SPECTROMETERS AND MODERN ANALYTICAL SPECTROSCOPIC TOOLS IS OPENING NEW WINDOWS IN THE EXPLORATION OF PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. HIGH-RESOLUTION INFRARED SPECTROMETERS WITH BROAD SPECTRAL COVERAGE AND ARRAYS OF RADIO TELESCOPES WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART RECEIVERS NOW PERMIT THE EXPLORATION OF THE KINEMATICS COMPOSITION AND THERMAL STRUCTURE OF A BROAD RANGE OF PLANETARY SOURCES WITH UNPRECEDENTED PRECISION. THESE COMBINED WITH THE ADVENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC DATABASES CONTAINING BILLIONS OF LINES ROBUST RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODELS AND UNPRECEDENTED AVAILABLE COMPUTATIONAL POWER ARE TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE INVESTIGATE PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES. WE HERE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE OPACITY DATABASE FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF PLANETARY SPECTRA.

American University, Washington DC

Investigators