Search Publications
Sulfur chemistry in the middle atmosphere of Venus
Belyaev, Denis A.; Zhang, Xi; Yung, Yuk L. +2 more
Venus Express measurements of the vertical profiles of SO and SO 2 in the middle atmosphere of Venus provide an opportunity to revisit the sulfur chemistry above the middle cloud tops (∼58 km). A one dimensional photochemistry-diffusion model is used to simulate the behavior of the whole chemical system including oxygen-, hydrogen-, chl…
A photochemical model for the Venus atmosphere at 47-112 km
Krasnopolsky, Vladimir A.
The model is intended to respond to the recent findings in the Venus atmosphere from the Venus Express and ground-based submillimeter and infrared observations. It extends down to 47 km for comparison with the kinetic model for the lower atmosphere (Krasnopolsky, V.A. [2007]. Icarus 191, 25-37) and to use its results as the boundary conditions. Th…
Morphology of the cloud tops as observed by the Venus Express Monitoring Camera
Crisp, David; Almeida, Miguel; Esposito, Larry W. +14 more
Since the discovery of ultraviolet markings on Venus, their observations have been a powerful tool to study the morphology, motions and dynamical state at the cloud top level. Here we present the results of investigation of the cloud top morphology performed by the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) during more than 3 years of the Venus Express mission…
Vertical profiling of SO 2 and SO above Venus' clouds by SPICAV/SOIR solar occultations
Montmessin, Franck; Belyaev, Denis A.; Fedorova, Anna A. +6 more
New measurements of sulfur dioxide (SO 2) and monoxide (SO) in the atmosphere of Venus by SPICAV/SOIR instrument onboard Venus Express orbiter provide ample statistics to study the behavior of these gases above Venus' clouds. The instrument (a set of three spectrometers) is capable to sound atmospheric structure above the clouds in seve…
Models of the global cloud structure on Venus derived from Venus Express observations
Irwin, P. G. J.; Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G. +6 more
Spatially-resolved near-infrared spectra from the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on Venus Express have been used to derive improved models of the vertical structure and global distribution of cloud properties in the southern hemisphere of Venus. VIRTIS achieved the first systematic, global mapping of Venus at wavelength…
Assessing the long-term variability of Venus winds at cloud level from VIRTIS-Venus Express
Hueso, R.; Sánchez-Lavega, A.; Peralta, J.
The Venus Express (VEX) mission has been in orbit to Venus for more than 4 years now. The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument onboard VEX observes Venus in two channels (visible and infrared) obtaining spectra and multi-wavelength images of the planet that can be used to sample the atmosphere at different altitude…
Dynamical properties of the Venus mesosphere from the radio-occultation experiment VeRa onboard Venus Express
Pätzold, M.; Häusler, B.; Tellmann, S. +4 more
The dynamics of Venus' mesosphere (60-100 km altitude) was investigated using data acquired by the radio-occultation experiment VeRa on board Venus Express. VeRa provides vertical profiles of density, temperature and pressure between 40 and 90 km of altitude with a vertical resolution of few hundred meters of both the Northern and Southern hemisph…
Small-scale temperature fluctuations seen by the VeRa Radio Science Experiment on Venus Express
Pätzold, M.; Hinson, D. P.; Bird, M. K. +6 more
The Venus Express Radio Science Experiment VeRa retrieves atmospheric profiles in the mesosphere and troposphere of Venus in the approximate altitude range of 40-90 km. A data set of more than 500 profiles was retrieved between the orbit insertion of Venus Express in 2006 and the end of occultation season No. 11 in July 2011. The atmospheric profi…
Optical extinction due to aerosols in the upper haze of Venus: Four years of SOIR/VEX observations from 2006 to 2010
Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Vandaele, Ann Carine; Robert, Séverine +3 more
The variability of the aerosol loading in the mesosphere of Venus is investigated from a large data set obtained with SOIR, a channel of the SPICAV instrument suite onboard Venus Express. Vertical profiles of the extinction due to light absorption by aerosols are retrieved from a spectral window around 3.0 µm recorded in many solar occultati…
Vertical structure of the Venus cloud top from the VeRa and VIRTIS observations onboard Venus Express
Pätzold, M.; Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G. +6 more
We investigate the Venus cloud top structure by joint analysis of the data from Visual and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) and the atmospheric temperature sounding by the Radio Science experiment (VeRa) onboard Venus Express. The cloud top altitude and aerosol scale height are derived by fitting VIRTIS spectra at 4-5 µm with t…