First detection of hydroxyl in the atmosphere of Venus

Piccioni, G.; Drossart, P.; Zasova, L. V.; Migliorini, A.; Gérard, Jean‐Claude; Mills, Franklin P.; Millour, Ehouarn; Muñoz, A. García; Ignatiev, N.; Grassi, D.; Cottini, V.; Taylor, F. W.; Erard, S.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200809761

Cited by 92 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…They indicated that this is a likely consequence of a too low concentration of chlorine, which limits the destruction of ozone and leads to an overestimate of the O 3 density. Krasnopolsky reproduced the first detection of hydroxyl emission in the Venus atmosphere by Piccioni et al (2008). These observations were very bright (880 kR for the Δv=1 sequence and 100 kR for the Δv=2 sequence) compared to the statistical intensities reported in this study (350 kR and 130 kR, respectively).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…The OH Venus nightglow infrared emission of the Meinel bands, populated by low vibrational levels, was recently observed by Piccioni et al (2008). Even more recently, Montmessin et al (2011) discovered the presence of O 3 in the nightside upper atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…It is thus possible to obtain complete spectra, where the Δv=1 and Δv=2 Meinel bands can be identified between 2.7 and 3.1 µm and near 1.43 µm, respectively (see Figure 1 in Piccioni et al (2008) and Figure 1 in Gérard et al (2010)). In order to improve the signal to noise ratio, we have generated an average spectrum based on the eight orbits showing the brightest OH emissions.…”

Section: Spectral Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The same conclusion was reached by Krasnopolsky (2011) for the Venus nightside mesosphere. While the OH emission has never been detected on Mars, the OH nightglow was discovered in the Venus nightside atmosphere by Piccioni et al (2008). They clearly identified the (1-0) and (2-1) transitions at 2.80 and 2.94 µm, respectively, and the (2-0) transition at 1.43 µm in a limb spectrum acquired with the Visible and Infra-Red Thermal…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The OH Venus nightglow spectrum: Intensity and vibrational composition from VIRTIS—Venus Express observations

Soret

Gérard

Piccioni

et al. 2012

Planetary and Space Science

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Limb spectra of the OH nightglow emission corresponding to the ∆v=1 and ∆v=2 sequences have been collected with the VIRTIS infrared imaging spectrograph on board Venus Express between April 2006 and October 2008. A detailed statistical analysis shows that the peak intensity and altitude of the two vibrational sequences are significantly correlated, with a mean intensity ratio of the two sequences of 0.38±0.37. The altitude of the maximum of the ∆v=2 emission is located ~1 km lower than ∆v=1. A spectral analysis shows that the Δv=1 sequence is composed at 44.6% by the (1-0) band, 9.3% by the (3-2) band and 7.1% by the (4-3) band. The Δv=2 emission is best fitted if solely including the (2-0) band.A non-LTE model of OH vibrational population by the O 3 + H reaction including radiative and collisional relaxation has been used to compare the expected spectral distribution, the altitude of the emission peak and the emission rate under different assumptions on the quenching processes to those observed with VIRTIS. The adopted carbon dioxide, atomic 2 oxygen and ozone densities are based on recent Venus Express remote sensing measurements.We find that the "sudden death" quenching scheme by CO 2 produces inadequate spectral distribution between the various bands and insufficient airglow brightness. Instead, the observed spectral distribution and the total emission intensity are reasonably well reproduced with the single quantum jump model, a O density profile peaking at 103.5 km with a maximum value of 1.9x10 11 cm -3 , a O 3 density profile peaking at 5.8x10 6 cm -3 at 96.5 km and a H density profile close to 10 8 cm -3 between 90 and 120 km, in agreement with several photochemical models.• The infrared OH Meinel bands have been observed by VIRTIS on board Venus Express.• The ∆v=1 and ∆v=2 sequences are significantly correlated in altitude and intensity.• Most of the population is in the lower vibrational levels.• A non-LTE model was developed using O, O 3 and CO 2 densities from VEX measurements.• Observations are reproduced with these densities and a single quantum jump model.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Spectral Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The OH Venus nightglow spectrum: Intensity and vibrational composition from VIRTIS—Venus Express observations

Soret

Gérard

Piccioni

et al. 2012

Planetary and Space Science

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“…Descriptions of the Venus Express mission, the VIRTIS instrument and some initial results have been given elsewhere (38)(39)(40), and we refer the interested reader to those works for further details.…”

Section: Detection Of the Near-infrared Nitric Oxide Nightglowmentioning

confidence: 99%

The near-infrared nitric oxide nightglow in the upper atmosphere of Venus

Muñoz

Mills

Piccioni

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The v ‫؍‬ 0 progressions of the C 3 X and A 3 X band systems of nitric oxide dominate the middle-UV spectrum of the night-time upper atmospheres of the Earth, Mars, and Venus. The C(0) 3 A(0)؉h radiative transition at 1.224 m, the only channel effectively populating the A(0) level, must therefore occur also. There have been, however, no reported detections of the C(0) 3 A(0) band in the atmospheres of these or any other planets. We analyzed all available near-infrared limb observations of the darkside atmosphere of Venus by the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument on the Venus Express spacecraft and found 2 unambiguous detections of this band at equatorial latitudes that seem to be associated with episodic events of highly enhanced nightglow emission. The discovery of the C(0) 3 A(0) band means observations in the 1.2-1.3 m region, which also contains the a(0) 3 X(0) emission band of molecular oxygen, can provide a wealth of information on the high-altitude chemistry and dynamics of the Venusian atmosphere.T he luminescence that results from exothermic chemical reactions between the constituents of a planetary atmosphere is customarily termed the night airglow or, simply, the nightglow (1). Although possibly present all day long, it appears most distinctly at night when the other processes of atomic and molecular excitation that depend directly on the action of the Sun are not at play and the diffuse radiation of solar light is at its minimum. The nightglow may originate from various, possibly minor, atmospheric constituents and provides insight into the chemistry, composition, temperature and energy balance of the atmosphere of a planet.The C 2 ⌸ 3 X 2 ⌸ and A 2 ⌺ ϩ 3 X 2 ⌸ band systems of nitric oxide (often referred to as the ␦ and ␥ bands, respectively) have long been known in the upper-atmospheric nightglow of the Earth (2, 3) and Venus (4, 5). More recently, they have also been reported in the atmosphere of Mars (6). A common structure, caused by the vЈ ϭ 0 progression of the aforementioned systems, characterizes the night-time middle-UV spectrum of all 3 planets. Separately and in combination with other nightglow emissions, observations of the nitric oxide nightglow have been used to infer details of the odd-nitrogen chemistry and dynamics in the emitting atmospheres.In the dayglow, resonance scattering of solar photons from ground-state nitric oxide gives rise to additional A 3 X (vЈ Ն 0) bands that have been observed on the sunlit side of the Earth (7) but that remain undetected in the atmospheres of Mars and Venus. On Mars, and expectedly also on Venus, the emission of the a 3 ⌸ 3 X 1 ⌺ system of carbon monoxide is likely to mask the nitric oxide A 3 X dayglow (8). The fluorescence efficiency of the C state is low for v ϭ 0 and negligible for vϾ0, presumably due to rapid predissociation (9-12). Day-time observations of the terrestrial atmosphere have found weak C 3 X (vЈ ϭ 0) bands, which have been attributed to resonance scattering (13-15), although there are significa...

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Terrestrial OH nightglow measurements during the Rosetta flyby

Migliorini

Gérard

Soret

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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We present a study of the terrestrial hydroxyl nightglow emissions observed with the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer on board the Rosetta mission. During these observations, the OH Δv = 1 and 2 sequences were measured simultaneously. This allowed investigating the relative population of the v = 1 to 9 vibrational levels by using both sequences. In particular, the relative population of the vibrational level v = 1 is determined for the first time from observations. The vibrational population decreases with increasing vibrational quantum number. A good agreement is found with a recent model calculation assuming multiquantum relaxation for OH(v) quenching by O2 and single‐quantum relaxation for OH(v) by N2.

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First detection of hydroxyl in the atmosphere of Venus

Cited by 92 publications

References 18 publications

The OH Venus nightglow spectrum: Intensity and vibrational composition from VIRTIS—Venus Express observations

The OH Venus nightglow spectrum: Intensity and vibrational composition from VIRTIS—Venus Express observations

The near-infrared nitric oxide nightglow in the upper atmosphere of Venus

Terrestrial OH nightglow measurements during the Rosetta flyby

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