P015
Getting the Most out of Astrobiological Data: Overcoming the Too Little, Too Rare, and Too Different

Session ID#: 83759

Session Description:
Astrobiology, the study of the past, present, and future of life in the universe, spans many traditionally separate fields of study. However, the interdisciplinary questions addressed by astrobiologists share common challenges: optimizing traditional methods for extremely small or low biomass samples; integrating sparse observations over large temporal or spatial scales; combining imperfect, partial environmental analogues with limited laboratory experiments to validate potential techniques; and the need to combine many different types of incomplete and noisy data, in addition to transcending traditional research subject boundaries and the challenges inherent to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. This session seeks short presentations on the cross-disciplinary application of statistical, logistical, practical, and strategic techniques for dealing with these challenges. In addition to specific investigations on methods development, we also encourage abstracts on lessons learned from field or laboratory efforts, descriptions of relevant or potentially adaptable methods from other fields, and ideas for new approaches.
Index Terms:

0406 Astrobiology and extraterrestrial materials [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
0452 Instruments and techniques [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
0456 Life in extreme environments [BIOGEOSCIENCES]

Primary Convener:  Diana Gentry, NASA Ames Research Center, Biospheric Science Branch, Moffett Field, CA, United States
Convener:  Haley M Sapers, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration, London, ON, Canada
Primary Liaison:  Diana Gentry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
 
The Search for Chiral Asymmetry as a Potential Biosignature in our Solar System (505910)
Daniel Patrick Glavin1, Aaron Burton2, Jamie Elsila1, Jose Aponte1 and Jason P Dworkin1, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States
 
The Astrobiology Habitable Environments Database (AHED) and the Astrobiology Resource Metadata Standard (ARMS): community-driven tools for astrobiological data (Invited) (511120)
Barbara Lafuente1,2, Angela Detweiler2,3, Richard M Keller2, Nate Stone4, Thomas Bristow2, Mary N. Parenteau2 and Christopher E Dateo2, (1)SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, United States, (2)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (3)Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (4)Open Data Repository, Gray, ME, United States
 
High-Affinity Trace Gas Consumption by Soil Microbial Communities Around Hot Springs in the Andean Altiplano with Implications for Early Mars (516196)
Zachary K Garvin1, Sebastián R Abades2, Nicole Trefault2, Fernando D Alfaro2 and Tullis C Onstott1, (1)Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Princeton, NJ, United States, (2)GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
 
Searching for Extant Life on Mars: What's Next? (517761)
Brandi L Carrier1, David W Beaty1, Michael A Meyer2, Corien Bakermans3, Penelope Jane Boston4, Thomas L Kieft5, Richard J Leveille6, Rachel Mackelprang7, Tullis C Onstott8, Richard C. Quinn9, Andrew C. Schuerger10 and Mary A Voytek11, (1)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)NASA HQ, Washington, DC, United States, (3)Pennsylvania State University Penn State Altoona, Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Altoona, PA, United States, (4)NASA Astrobiology Institute, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (5)New Mexico Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, Socorro, NM, United States, (6)McGill University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Montreal, QC, Canada, (7)California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA, United States, (8)Princeton University, Department of Geosciences, Princeton, NJ, United States, (9)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (10)University of Florida, Department of Plant Pathology, Gainesville, FL, United States, (11)NASA, Washington, DC, United States
 
Worth its Salt?: Testing the Effects of Mars and Europa-Analog Salts on the MinION Sequencer (548115)
Margaret Meiqi Weng1, William B Brinckerhoff2, Kathleen Craft3, Christopher Bradburne4, Julie Grace Bevilacqua5, Nicole Y. Wagner1 and Sarah Johnson5, (1)Georgetown University, Biology, Washington, DC, United States, (2)NASA, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (4)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, United States, (5)Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States
 
Stuck in the clay: Organic matter preservation in clay-rich surface paleoenvironments of Earth and Mars (588537)
Adrian P. Broz1,2, Greg Retallack1, Briony H. N. Horgan3, Lucas Silva4 and Matthew Polizzotto1, (1)University of Oregon, Department of Earth Sciences, Eugene, OR, United States, (2)Jacobs JETS, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (3)Purdue University, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, West Lafayette, IN, United States, (4)University of Oregon, Department of Geography, Eugene, OR, United States
 
Astrobiology and Landscape Ecology: Never the twain shall meet? Lessons learned from FELDSPAR’s Iceland volcanic analog sites (618016)
Anna Simpson, Georgia Institute of Technology Main Campus, Atlanta, GA, United States, Diana Gentry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, Amanda M. Stockton, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, George Kenneth Tan, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Atlanta, GA, United States, Scot M Sutton II, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States and FELDSPAR
 
The "Life Detection Forum" Project (Invited) (621780)
Sanjoy M Som, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA, United States and "Life Detection Forum" Team
 
Statistical Classification of Life Detection Data: Combinatorial Biosignatures and Mission Evaluation (622922)
Thomas Stucky1,2, Jessica E. Koehne3, Michael Furlong3,4, David Mauro2,5, Annmarie Schramm6 and Diana Gentry7, (1)SETI Institute Mountain View, Mountain View, CA, United States, (2)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (3)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, United States, (4)Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Greenbelt, United States, (5)Millennium Engineering & Integration, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (6)NASA Ames Research Center, Wyle Laboratories, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (7)NASA Ames Research Center, Biospheric Science Branch, Moffett Field, CA, United States
 
Verification of Electron Beam Irradiation as a Lipid Decontamination Method for Life Detection Instrumentation (627986)
Denise Buckner, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA, United States, Mary Beth Wilhelm, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, Michael Gaffey, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, United States, Antonio J. Ricco, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, United States and Margaret Abraham, Aerospace Corporation Pasadena, Pasadena, United States
 
Deep Learning for Life Detection in SEM Imagery from BRAILLE Investigations of Lava Beds National Monument (630948)
Nicholas Bense1, Mike Spilde2, Diana E Northup3 and Jennifer G Blank1, (1)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (2)University of New Mexico Main Campus, Albuquerque, NM, United States, (3)University of New Mexico Main Campus, Albuquerque, United States
 
Genome-based Search for Rare Anaerobic Sulfur-oxidizers, a Potential Analog for Life on Europa (632679)
Chui Yim Maggie Lau, Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China
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