Outstanding aeronomy problems at Venus

Abstract

Of all the non-terrestrial ionospheres and thermospheres in our solar system those of Venus have been explored and studied the most. This is mainly because of the 14 year exploration of the well-instrumented Pioneer Venus spacecraft and the theoretical studies prompted by the resulting observational information. However, there are still a number of areas where there are important scientific questions that remain unanswered. These areas include: dynamics of the thermosphere,

the energy mechanisms/sources responsible for maintaining the elevated plasma temperatures in the ionosphere,

airglow/aurora intensities and their sources, and

hot atom populations.

Venus Express is likely to help address some of the questions related to the areas listed under (i), (iii) and (iv) above.