Presentation #500.01 in the session Plenary 7.
The last decade has brought us a wealth of exoplanet detections from facilities both on the ground and in space. Closely on the heels of these exoplanet detections have been attempts to probe their atmospheres to measure their compositions and thermal structures in concert with the development of ever more sophisticated theories, models, and analysis tools. In this talk I will provide a brief review of where we’ve come in the last decade in the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres with legacy space-based observatories and the big open questions that still remain. I will also look forward into the next decade of exoplanet atmospheric characterization efforts, with a focus on the opportunities offered from space-based observatories such as JWST. With the new windows that will be opened into exoplanet atmospheres by JWST and other facilities we will certainly face new challenges to our theories about exoplanet atmospheres that will require the development of new models, tools, and in particular considerations for the multi-dimensional nature of exoplanet atmospheres.