Solar System Surface Technosignatures: Searching for Signs of Artificial Design on Extraterrestrial Terrain
Abstract
Artificial radio emissions have historically been a major focus of technosignature searches. Here, we apply an anthropological lens to expand this scope to surface technosignatures: non-random, intentional patterning on planetary terrain, similar to long-lasting human-made landscapes and monuments on Earth. On geologically inactive bodies such as the Moon and Mars, artificial traces and patterns could potentially remain visible for hundreds of millions of years. We discuss two recent developments that make this search timely: high-resolution imaging datasets, such as those produced by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and ML-based anomaly-detection methods. Finally, we list two possible approaches to developing a model capable of searching for these surface technosignatures: a supervised and an unsupervised one. Complemented by LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, and reflectance spectroscopy, these methods would enable the first quantitative upper limits on surface technosignatures while yielding ancillary benefits for planetary science.
Related
- The Robots are Coming: Artificial Intelligence Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- Opportunity Lost in Searching for Technosignatures
- LunarRF: A Terrain-Aware Propagation Engine and Pole-Wide 3GPP Surface Coverage Atlas of the Lunar South Pole
- A Wavelet-Integrated Search Pipeline for Narrowband Technosignatures in FAST Observations of 33 Exoplanet Systems
- The Search for Technosignatures: a Review of Possibilities
BibTeX
@misc{henrique2026solar,
title = {{Solar System Surface Technosignatures: Searching for Signs of Artificial Design on Extraterrestrial Terrain}},
author = {Ana Henrique and Sofia Sheikh and Benjamin Fields},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.28687},
eprint = {2610.28687},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.28687},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Solar System Surface Technosignatures: Searching for Signs of Artificial Design on Extraterrestrial Terrain
AU - Ana Henrique
AU - Sofia Sheikh
AU - Benjamin Fields
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.28687
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.28687
AB - Artificial radio emissions have historically been a major focus of technosignature searches. Here, we apply an anthropological lens to expand this scope to surface technosignatures: non-random, intentional patterning on planetary terrain, similar to long-lasting human-made landscapes and monuments on Earth. On geologically inactive bodies such as the Moon and Mars, artificial traces and patterns could potentially remain visible for hundreds of millions of years. We discuss two recent developments that make this search timely: high-resolution imaging datasets, such as those produced by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and ML-based anomaly-detection methods. Finally, we list two possible approaches to developing a model capable of searching for these surface technosignatures: a supervised and an unsupervised one. Complemented by LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, and reflectance spectroscopy, these methods would enable the first quantitative upper limits on surface technosignatures while yielding ancillary benefits for planetary science.
ER -