Beyond the Spectrum: Insights with Planetary Scientist Eriita Jones
Cosmic Chaos
The squishmallow stares at me, unrelenting. I glance around the office—it’s real, homey, cozy and comfortable. A delightful blend of science and sentiment fills the room. Her office feels like an extension of herself and her science—planetary yet grounded. With hot drinks in hand, we leave the warmth of Building 204 and settle on the grassy slope outside to bask in the electromagnetic spectrum of our star—the sun.
Tea Talk
Eriita shares with me over a hot cup of tea why she pursued a career in planetary science, despite it being difficult to secure work. Her noble passion stems from the innate desire to assist humanity. ‘I’ve always felt drawn to that and to the search for life on other planets and human beings just discovering and exploring, but in a way that is all of humanity together for the betterment of all of humankind. That’s how I went into planetary science, searching for life and hoping one day to find life somewhere, whether it’s a microbe on Mars or anything, anywhere else.
I love the planetary applications of astrophysics, which is using satellite data. We use cameras to look down on the surface of other worlds and try to understand what’s being hidden in other wavelengths of light, such as infrared or microwave light. With these we can find out about the surface or the subsurface of a planet. The way that different materials interact with light is unique. It’s like a fingerprint. We can use that fingerprint to understand what materials are on the surface.’
I’ve always felt drawn to the search for life on other planets and human beings just discovering and exploring, but in a way that is all of humanity together for the betterment of all of humankind.
Beyond the Spectrum
Eriita uses multispectral cameras to peer beyond the limits of visible light, unlocking insights hidden in other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A multispectral camera captures images across multiple wavelengths—such as visible, infrared and ultraviolet—revealing detailed information about the composition and properties of objects and environments that would otherwise remain unseen. Eriita explains the information revealed from using various multispectral imaging to discover what is happening on Earth and other planets.
‘Is it a healthy plant or is it stressed? Is the plant stressed because it’s not got enough water in the leaf, or it’s had a disease or a pest-like infestation come through? You can tell that from looking at the way that the plant reflects light. If we’re looking at a bare soil surface, such as Mars, then you can look at things like what minerals are present.’
Minerals interact with the electromagnetic spectrum in ways that depend on their composition, they absorb and reflect specific wavelengths. When a planetary scientist observes a surface using thermal imaging, which captures longer wavelengths, the energy detected isn’t reflected but emitted. This emitted thermal energy reveals deeper insights into the surface’s properties, offering a more detailed understanding than visible light alone.
Pyromantis
Eriita brings me back from an inter-solar system journey, grounding me on planet Earth through the practical application of multispectral imaging and its benefits for our evolving environment. Passionate about protecting the planet, she develops solutions to combat human-driven climate change. At the Curtin Space Science and Technology Centre, part of her work revolves around Pyromantis—a multispectral camera system she deploys into the atmosphere. The name Pyromantis is both symbolic and functional: it means ‘seer of fire’ and refers to its five ‘eyes,’ or spectral filters. These filters span five different wavelengths, enabling Pyromantis to monitor environmental conditions. While it’s not about seeing fire directly, the system plays a vital role in reducing bushfire risk by helping us better understand what’s happening on the ground.
‘Pyromantis came out of doing research for a few years on developing products for evapotranspiration, which is a measurement of how much water is moving out of the surface. The water is moving out of the surface from trees through transpiration, which is what happens from photosynthesis.’ Photosynthesis is when trees and plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to replace it with oxygen, releasing water vapour in the process. Trees ‘also lose water from evaporation. There’s evapotranspiration for vegetation. Soil doesn’t transpire but loses water from evaporation. Evapotranspiration plays an important role in predicting the severity of a fire and predicting the likelihood of ignition.’ Evapotranspiration can play an important role in determining fuel load in the forest or bush for organisations like the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). Fuel load is exactly that. It is the amount or load of fuel available for a fire to start and continue burning.
Truth be Told
Understanding the environment on Earth deals with more than collecting data from Pyromantis. Eriita explains ground truthing, an important part of ensuring that the information from Pyromantis is timely, relevant and accurate. Ground truthing involves heading out into the environment, performing tests and gathering data to ensure that Pyromantis is telling the ‘truth.’ The multispectral camera must be calibrated to each environment, because there is a lot of difference between ecosystems, forests, bush and states.
Between ground-truthing for the Western Australian environment and discussing with DBCA what they need for fuel load management Pyromantis evolved. Currently ‘Pyromantis gets in the air on a high-altitude balloon, which is like a weather balloon that can go up to 30 or 40 kilometres in altitude, which is up in the stratosphere. Up there you can see the curvature of the earth, which is amazing. The environment up there is very much like you’re in outer space in terms of your ultraviolet radiation and atmospheric pressure. The temperature is colder. It’s a good place to simulate outer space and expose your systems to a near space environment and flight test them before sending them into outer space.’
‘Live long and prosper.’ — Spock
Pyromantis, along with Eriita, have big dreams on the horizon of realisation. Pyromantis can be flown on demand by any collaborators with the initiative. However, that is not all. ‘Pyromantis point two will be going up on a Binar Space Program cube satellite next year, which is exciting. Then she’ll be able to see a lot more of Western Australia.’ Once in orbit, Pyromantis will use its five eyes to see the potential for fire in the Western Australian environment. A humble, yet vital, hero, Pyromantis will aim to contribute to long lives and future prosperity for WA inhabitants.
Eriita is simply awesome. She’s pursued her dreams with unwavering determination, often at the expense of other parts of her life. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been worth it. With a squishmallow under her arm and a passion for all things Vulcan, she’s taking giant strides toward a safer future for Western Australia. The sun beats down on us. The shade has shifted. I think about evapotranspiration—and realise it’s time for both of us to evaporate back into the mundane world.
Written by Louise Kaestner, 2025. For more, visit LinkedIn or head to her website: https://www.louisekaestnerwriter.com/