Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: How to spot oceans on alien Earths

[dracodraconis]

Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: How to spot oceans on alien Earths

Scientists have previously learned how to detect plants based on the "red edge" associate with photosynthesis, but now they believe that they may also be able to detect oceans from the change in reflected light. Studies of earthshine reflected from the moon show that more light is reflected from oceans so the rise and fall of reflected light intensity, combined with the "red edge" could indicate a transition between ocean and landmass.