As we prepare to characterize planets around other stars via powerful observatories, solar system reflectance data can provide a strong baseline for comparative planetology. Allison’s research focuses on calibrating and combining currently available spectral data to create a reliable, publishable spectral library. Her study will provide data for each of the solar system planets and Saturn’s moon, Titan. Creating a spectral library with standardized units and planetary geometry will be essential for characterizing new exoplanet detections. Additionally, in her recent work she employed the 3D Global Emission Spectra (GlobES) module of the Planetary Spectrum Generator to simulate hyper-realistic spectra of Earth and Mars for consideration as exoplanet analogs.
Allison is part of the Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG) team and is currently collaborating with Geronimo Villanueva, Vincent Kofman, and Thomas Fauchez.