A Test for the Detection of Vegetation on Extrasolar Planets: Detection of Vegetation in Earthshine Spectrum

The search for life in extrasolar planets is to be tested first with the only planet known to shelter life. If the planet Earth is used as an example to search for a signature of life, the vegetation is one of its possible detectable signature, using the Vegetation Red Edge due to chlorophyll in the near infrared (0.725 m). We focus on a test of the detectability of vegetation in the spectrum of Earth seen as a simple dot, using the reflection of the global Earth on the lunar surface i.e. Earthshine. On the Antarctic, the Earthshine can be seen during several hours in a day (not possible at our latitudes) and so variations due to different parts of Earth, that is to say oceans and continents, facing the Moon could be detected.