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Variations of sulphur dioxide at the cloud top of Venus's dynamic atmosphere

Montmessin, Franck; Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Marcq, Emmanuel +1 more

Sulphur dioxide is a million times more abundant in the atmosphere of Venus than that of Earth, possibly as a result of volcanism on Venus within the past billion years. A tenfold decrease in sulphur dioxide column density above Venus's clouds measured by the Pioneer Venus spacecraft during the 1970s and 1980s has been interpreted as decline follo…

A chaotic long-lived vortex at the southern pole of Venus

Hueso, R.; Sánchez-Lavega, A.; Drossart, P. +3 more

Polar vortices are common in the atmospheres of rapidly rotating planets. On Earth and Mars, vortices are generated by surface temperature gradients and their strength is modulated by the seasonal insolation cycle. Slowly rotating Venus lacks pronounced seasonal forcing, but vortices are known to occur at both poles, in an atmosphere that rotates …