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In this study, we treat Earth as an exoplanet and investigate our home planetby means of a potential future mid-infrared (MIR) space mission called theLarge Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE). We combine thermal spectra from anempirical dataset of disk-integrated Earth observations with a noise model forLIFE to create mock observations. We apply a state-of-the-art atmosphericretrieval framework to characterize the planet, assess the potential fordetecting the known bioindicators, and investigate the impact of viewinggeometry, seasonality, and patchy clouds on the characterization. Key findingsinclude: (1) we are observing a temperate habitable planet with significantabundances of CO2, H2O, O3, and CH4; (2) seasonal variations in the surface andequilibrium temperature, and in the Bond albedo are detectable; (3) the viewinggeometry and the spatially and temporally unresolved nature of our observationsonly have a minor impact on the characterization; (4) Earth's variable H2Oprofile and patchy cloud coverage lead to biased retrieval results for theatmospheric structure and trace gas abundances; (5) the limited extent ofEarth's seasonal variations in biosignature abundances makes the directdetection of its biosphere through atmospheric seasonality unlikely. Ourresults suggest that LIFE could correctly identify Earth as a planet where lifecould thrive, with detectable levels of bioindicators, a temperate climate, andsurface conditions allowing liquid surface water. Even if atmosphericseasonality is not easily observed, our study demonstrates that nextgeneration, optimized space missions can assess whether nearby temperateterrestrial exoplanets are habitable or even inhabited.

Earth as an Exoplanet. III. Using Empirical Thermal Emission Spectra as Input for Atmospheric Retrieval of an Earth-Twin Exoplanet