Projects

Main Scientific Projects

Habitable Exoplanets Catalog (HEC) — The HEC is the first extensive catalog on the number, diversity, and characteristics of potentially habitable exoplanets in the universe. It uses tools from the PHL, such as the Earth Similarity Index (ESI), to help assess and compare the potential habitability of exoplanets.

Visible Paleo-Earth (VPE) — The VPE is the first collection of photorealistic visualizations of our planet from space in the last 750 million years. It uses paleogeography and paleoclimate reconstructions combined with NASA satellite imagery to generate our best interpretation of the evolution of the global visual appearance of Earth throughout time.

Scientific Exoplanets Renderer (SER) — SER is a scientific software tool to generate photorealistic visualizations of exoplanets. It uses physical properties from exoplanets and their parent stars to generate possible scenarios for their visual appearance as seen from space. It can be used to interpret and visualize results from General Circulation Models (GCM), reconstruct light-curves, albedo studies, and stellar transit simulations, including moons.

Quantitative Habitability Theory (QH Theory) — The purpose of QH Theory is to model the distribution, abundance, and productivity of life. It integrates elements from Habitat Suitability Models (HSM), the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE), Population Dynamics, Macroecology, Biogeography, and Ecophysiology.

Earth Similarity Index (ESI) — The ESI, or the "easy scale," is a multiparameter first assessment of Earth-likeness for solar and extrasolar planets as a number between zero (no similarity) and one (identical to Earth). It can be used to prioritize exoplanets observations, perform statistical assessments and develop planetary classifications.

Microbial Life Database (MLD) — The Microbial Life Database (MLD) is a project to visualize the ecological, physiological and morphological diversity of microbial life. It includes data for nearly 600 well-known prokaryote genera mostly described in Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology with correction and additions from many other sources.