Search Publications
Bimodal distribution of sulfuric acid aerosols in the upper haze of Venus
Crisp, David; Zhang, Xi; Gao, Peter +2 more
Observations by the SPICAV/SOIR instruments aboard Venus Express have revealed that the upper haze (UH) of Venus, between 70 and 90 km, is variable on the order of days and that it is populated by two particle modes. We use a one-dimensional microphysics and vertical transport model based on the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmosphere…
Atmospheric thermal structure and cloud features in the southern hemisphere of Venus as retrieved from VIRTIS/VEX radiation measurements
Kappel, D.; Arnold, G.; Haus, R.
Thermal structure and cloud features in the atmosphere of Venus are investigated using spectroscopic nightside measurements recorded by the Visible and InfraRed Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) aboard ESA’s Venus Express mission in the moderate resolution infrared mapping channel (M-IR, 1-5 µm). New methodical approaches and retrieval r…
The dayside ionospheres of Mars and Venus: Comparing a one-dimensional photochemical model with MaRS (Mars Express) and VeRa (Venus Express) observations
González-Galindo, F.; Tellmann, Silvia; Tyler, G. Leonard +8 more
The electron density distributions of the lower ionospheres of Mars and Venus are mainly dependent on the solar X-ray and EUV flux and the solar zenith angle. The influence of an increasing solar flux is clearly seen in the increase of the observed peak electron density and total electron content (TEC) of the main ionospheric layers. The model “Io…
High latitude gravity waves at the Venus cloud tops as observed by the Venus Monitoring Camera on board Venus Express
Markiewicz, W. J.; Titov, D. V.; Peralta, J. +4 more
High resolution images of Venus Northern hemisphere obtained with the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC/VEx) allow studying small-scale dynamical phenomena at the cloud tops (∼62-70 km altitude) including features like wave trains. A systematic visual search of these waves was performed; more than 1500 orbits were analyzed and wave patterns were observ…
Inverse insolation dependence of Venus' cloud-level convection
Imamura, Takeshi; Ando, Hiroki; Sugimoto, Norihiko +4 more
It is generally accepted that convection in planetary atmospheres is enhanced in low latitudes and in the daytime where incoming solar radiation is intense. Here we demonstrate, using a local convection model, that this tendency is reversed for Venus' cloud-level convection, which is driven by heating of the cloud base by upwelling infrared radiat…
Glory on Venus cloud tops and the unknown UV absorber
Roatsch, T.; Markiewicz, W. J.; Titov, D. V. +6 more
We report on the implications of the observations of the glory phenomenon made recently by Venus Express orbiter. Glory is an optical phenomenon that poses stringent constraints on the cloud properties. These observations thus enable us to constrain two properties of the particles at the cloud tops (about 70 km altitude) which are responsible for …
The effect of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and solar wind streams on Venus’ 5577 Å oxygen green line
Molaverdikhani, K.; Chanover, N. J.; Slanger, T. G. +1 more
We observed the Venusian 5577.3 Å OI (1S-1D) (oxygen green line) nightglow emission feature after solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and solar wind streams from December 2010 to July 2012 using the high resolution Astrophysical Research Consortium Echelle Spectrograph on the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope.…
Linelist of HD16O for study of atmosphere of terrestrial planets (Earth, Venus and Mars)
Fedorova, A. A.; Lavrentieva, N. N.; Voronin, B. A. +2 more
Studies of water vapor in the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and Earth by spectroscopic techniques are being made routinely with different instruments on board of interplanetary missions like Mars-Express, Venus-Express and many others as well as with a lot of spacecrafts on the Earth’ orbit. Accessibility of detailed spectroscopic information in a wi…
Wind circulation regimes at Venus' cloud tops: Ground-based Doppler velocimetry using CFHT/ESPaDOnS and comparison with simultaneous cloud tracking measurements using VEx/VIRTIS in February 2011
Widemann, Thomas; Machado, Pedro; Luz, David +1 more
We present new results based on ground-based Doppler spectroscopic measurements, obtained with the ESPaDOnS spectrograph at Canada-France-Hawaii telescope (CFHT) and simultaneous observations of velocity fields, obtained from space by the VIRTIS-M instrument on board the Venus Express spacecraft. These measurements are based on high-resolution spe…
Time variations of O2(a1Δ) nightglow spots on the Venus nightside and dynamics of the upper mesosphere
Drossart, Pierre; Piccioni, Giuseppe; Gérard, Jean-Claude +1 more
The dynamical regime of the Venus upper atmosphere is mainly decomposed into three regions. The first one, located below 65 km of altitude is governed by the retrograde superrotational zonal (RSZ) circulation. The second region above 130 km is dominated by the subsolar to antisolar (SS-AS) circulation. The dynamics of the transition region in betw…