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archNEMESIS: An Open-Source Python Package for Analysis of Planetary Atmospheric Spectra Cover

archNEMESIS: An Open-Source Python Package for Analysis of Planetary Atmospheric Spectra

Open Access
|Jul 2025

Abstract

ArchNEMESIS is an open-source Python package developed for the analysis of remote sensing spectroscopic observations of planetary atmospheres. It is based on the widely used NEMESIS radiative transfer and retrieval tool, which has been extensively used for the investigation of a wide variety of planetary environments. The main goal of archNEMESIS is to provide the capabilities of its Fortran-based predecessor, keeping or exceeding the efficiency in the calculations, and benefitting from the advantages Python tools provide in terms of usability and portability. ArchNEMESIS enables users to compute synthetic spectra for a wide variety of planetary atmospheres, supporting multiple spectral ranges, viewing geometries (e.g., nadir, limb, and solar occultation), and radiative transfer scenarios, including multiple scattering. Furthermore, it provides tools to fit observed spectra and retrieve atmospheric and surface parameters using both optimal estimation and nested sampling retrieval schemes. The code, stored in a public GitHub repository under a GPL-v3.0 license, is accompanied by detailed documentation available at https://archnemesis.readthedocs.io/.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/jors.554 | Journal eISSN: 2049-9647
Language: English
Submitted on: Jan 27, 2025
Accepted on: Jul 16, 2025
Published on: Jul 24, 2025
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2025 Juan Alday, Joseph Penn, Patrick Irwin, Jonathon Mason, Jingxuan Yang, Jack Dobinson, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.