Venus atmospheric and surface studies from VIRTIS on Venus Express

Arnold, Gabriele; Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G.; Haus, Rainer

doi:10.1117/12.892895

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…It is of special interest in atmospheric research, therefore. The Visible and InfraRed Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on Venus Express (Piccioni et al, 2007a;Drossart et al, 2007;Arnold et al, 2011;Arnold et al, 2012 ) provided an enormous amount of new data and a fourdimensional picture of the planet Venus (2D imaging + spectral dimension + temporal variations) on global scales. The spectral dimension permits a sounding of atmospheric properties at different altitude levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric thermal structure and cloud features in the southern hemisphere of Venus as retrieved from VIRTIS/VEX radiation measurements

Haus

Kappel

Arnold

2014

Icarus

106

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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 results for the northern hemisphere have been recently described by Haus et al. (2013). Now, southern hemisphere maps of mesospheric temperature and cloud parameter fields are presented that cover variations with altitude, latitude, local time, and mission time. Measurements from the entire usable data archive are utilized comprising radiation spectra recorded during eight Venus solar days between April 2006 and October 2008.Zonal averages of retrieved temperature altitude profiles in both hemispheres are very similar and give evidence of global N-S axial symmetry of atmospheric temperature structure. Cold collar and warmer polar vortex regions exhibit the strongest temperature variability with standard deviations up to 8.5 K at 75°S and 63 km altitude compared with about 1.0 K at low and mid latitudes above 75 km. The mesospheric temperature field strongly depends on local time. At altitudes above about 75 km, the atmosphere is warmer in the second half of night, while the dawn side at lower altitudes is usually colder than the dusk side by about 8 K. Local minimum temperature of 220 K occurs at 03:00 h local time at 65 km and 60°S. Temperature standard deviation at polar latitudes is particularly large near midnight. Temperature variability with solar longitude is forced by solar thermal tides with a dominating diurnal component. The influence of observed cloud parameter changes on retrieved mesospheric zonal average temperature structure is moderate and does not exceed 2-3 K at altitudes between 60 and 75 km. The mesospheric thermal structure was essentially stable with Julian date between 2006 and 2008.Global N-S axial symmetry is also observed in cloud structures. Cloud top altitude at 1 µm slowly decreases from 71 km at the equator to 70 km at 45-50° and rapidly drops poleward of 50°. It reaches 61 km over both poles. Average particle size in the vertical cloud column increases from mid latitudes toward the poles and also toward the equator resulting in minimum and maximum zonal average cloud opacities of about 32 and 42 and a planetary average of 36.5 at 1 µm. Zonal averages of cloud features are similar at different solar days, but variations with local time are very complex and inseparably associated with the superrotation of the clouds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric thermal structure and cloud features in the southern hemisphere of Venus as retrieved from VIRTIS/VEX radiation measurements

Haus

Kappel

Arnold

2014

Icarus

106

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“…The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer VIRTIS (Drossart et al, 2007;Piccioni et al, 2007;Arnold et al, 2011;Arnold et al, 2012) aboard the European Venus Express (VEX) mission is the first orbital instrument that systematically investigates the nightside emission of the planet. VIRTIS provides for the first time a detailed remote exploration of the lower atmosphere and surface of Venus and opens up new possibilities to study the minor gas abundances on global scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lower atmosphere minor gas abundances as retrieved from Venus Express VIRTIS-M-IR data at 2.3µm

Haus

Kappel

Arnold

2015

Planetary and Space Science

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Minor gas abundances in the lower atmosphere of Venus' southern hemisphere are investigated using spectroscopic nightside measurements recorded by the Visible and InfraRed Thermal Imaging Spectrometer aboard ESA's Venus Express mission in the moderate spectral resolution infrared mapping channel (VIRTIS-M-IR, 1-5 µm, FWHM=17 nm). The entire usable data archive is utilized including only radiation spectra sampled at long detector exposure times (≥3.3 s) during eight Venus solar days between April 2006 and October 2008. Combined radiative transfer and retrieval techniques (Haus et al., 2013; Haus et al., 2014) are applied for a simultaneous determination of total cloud opacity and H 2 O, CO, and OCS abundances from the 2.3 µm atmospheric transparency window that sounds the altitude range between about 30 and 45 km. A wavelength-dependent CO 2 opacity correction is considered. Zonal averages of CO abundances at 35 km increase by about 35% from (22.9 ± 0.8) ppmv at equatorial latitudes to (31.0 ± 2.1) ppmv at 65°S and then decrease to (29.4 ± 2.4) ppmv at 80°S The ± figures refer to the statistical variability of retrieved abundances. In accordance with earlier results, the observed latitudinal variation of tropospheric CO is consistent with a Hadley cell-like circulation. Dawn side CO abundances at high latitudes are slightly smaller than dusk side values by about 7%. The latitudinal distribution of OCS at 35 km is anticorrelated with that of CO, ranging from about (1.15 ± 0.2) ppmv at 65°S to (1.60 ± 0.2) ppmv at low latitudes (poleward decrease of 28%). Zonal averages of H 2 O abundances near 35 km slightly decrease toward the South Pole by about 10%, and the hemispheric average is (32.0 ± 1.3) ppmv. A significant local time dependence of OCS and H 2 O is not observed. Detailed analyses of individual spectrum retrieval errors for different atmospheric models reveal that CO abundance results are reliable (error 4-7%), while H 2 O and OCS results have lower confidence (errors 30-47% and 41-86%, respectively). SO 2 abundances cannot reliably be retrieved from VIRTIS-M-IR spectra.

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“…For the first time, VIRTIS-VEX investigates deep atmosphere and surface features of Venus systematically in the narrow nightside atmospheric windows from the orbit of the planet allowing to extract surface temperature and emissivity data on global scales. 10 Features like the hot climate driven by a runaway greenhouse effect, the dense CO 2 atmosphere, and the atmospheric superrotation distinguish Venus from the other terrestrial planets. Although the planet's mass and density differ only slightly compared to the Earth, both planets took completely different evolution paths.…”

Section: Virtis-m Infrared Virtis-m Visible Virtis-hmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…46 Identification of residual felsic tesserae components would give a chance to study the pre-resurfacing history of the planet. 10 As far as the radar signal is not very sensitive to the physical and chemical properties of the surface, its composition is unknown on global scales, and the majority of our knowledge about the surface material was obtained by the few landers of the early Venera and Vega missions.…”

Section: Terrestrial Surfaces -Venusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Observed surface temperature variations are almost exclusively due to topographic changes. 10,47 Detailed quantitative data analyses and the retrieval of surface features from each individual spectrum require the use of extensive radiative transfer simulations tools. Most techniques have been developed so far for low and moderate temperature and pressure atmospheric environments of Earth, Mars, and Venus mesosphere above the cloud cover.…”

Section: Terrestrial Surfaces -Venusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Front Matter: Volume 8159

Singh

2011

SPIE Proceedings

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Publication of record for individual papers is online in the SPIE Digital Library. SPIEDigitalLibrary.orgPaper Numbering: Proceedings of SPIE follow an e-First publication model, with papers published first online and then in print and on CD-ROM. Papers are published as they are submitted and meet publication criteria. A unique, consistent, permanent citation identifier (CID) number is assigned to each article at the time of the first publication. Utilization of CIDs allows articles to be fully citable as soon as they are published online, and connects the same identifier to all online, print, and electronic versions of the publication. SPIE uses a six-digit CID article numbering system in which:The first four digits correspond to the SPIE volume number. The last two digits indicate publication order within the volume using a Base 36 numbering system employing both numerals and letters. These two-number sets start with 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 0A, 0B … 0Z, followed by 10-1Z, 20-2Z, etc.The CID number appears on each page of the manuscript. The complete citation is used on the first page, and an abbreviated version on subsequent pages. Numbers in the index correspond to the last two digits of the six-digit CID number. Downloaded From: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie on 31 Jul 2020 Terms of Use: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/terms-of-use Contents vii Conference Committee ix Exploring the solar system: the view of planetary surfaces with VIS/IR remote sensing methods (Plenary Paper) [8154-101] G. E. Arnold, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) (Germany) KEYNOTE SESSION 8159 02 Active optical technology: recent developments and lessons learned (Keynote Paper) [8159-01] G. J. Komar, NASA (United States) SPACE-BASED LIDAR 03High efficiency laser designs for airborne and space-based lidar remote sensing systems (Invited Paper)

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Venus atmospheric and surface studies from VIRTIS on Venus Express

Cited by 5 publications

References 55 publications

Atmospheric thermal structure and cloud features in the southern hemisphere of Venus as retrieved from VIRTIS/VEX radiation measurements

Atmospheric thermal structure and cloud features in the southern hemisphere of Venus as retrieved from VIRTIS/VEX radiation measurements

Lower atmosphere minor gas abundances as retrieved from Venus Express VIRTIS-M-IR data at 2.3µm

Front Matter: Volume 8159

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