A dynamic upper atmosphere of Venus as revealed by VIRTIS on Venus Express

Drossart, P.; Piccioni, G.; Gérard, Jean‐Claude; López‐Valverde, M. A.; Sánchez‐Lavega, A.; Zasova, L.; Hueso, R.; Taylor, F. W.; Bézard, Bruno; Adriani, A.; Angrilli, Francesco; Arnold, Gabriele; Baines, K. H.; Bellucci, G.; Benkhoff, J.; Bibring, Jean‐Pierre; Blanco, A.; Błęcka, M. I.; Carlson, R. W.; Coradini, A.; Lellis, A. Di; Encrenaz, Th.; Érard, S.; Fonti, S.; Formisano, V.; Fouchet, Thierry; Garcia, Raphaël; Haus, Rainer; Helbert, J.; Ignatiev, N.; Irwin, Patrick; Langevin, Y.; Lebonnois, Sébastien; Luz, D.; Marinangeli, L.; Orofino, V.; Rodin, A. V.; Roos-Serote, M.; Saggin, Bortolino; Stam, Daphné; Titov, D. V.; Visconti, Guido; Zambelli, Massimo; Tsang, C. C. C.

doi:10.1038/nature06140

Cited by 96 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(20 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thin solid lines show the blackbody spectra for the temperatures of 260 K, 240 K, and 220 K the cloud tops vary between 220 K and 260 K. Venus thermal radiation has been measured both from the ground and from space. The most comprehensive data sets were delivered by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Infrared Radiometer (Taylor et al 1980), the Venera 15 Fourier spectrometer (Oertel et al 1987), the NIMS/Galileo infrared spectro-imager (Carlson and Taylor 1993), and the VIRTIS on Venus Express (Drossart et al 2007;Piccioni et al 2007a). Figure 30 shows examples of the thermal infrared spectra of Venus.…”

Section: Infrared Emissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The outgoing thermal radiation has been characterized by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Infrared Radiometer (Taylor et al 1980), the Venera 15 Fourier transform spectrometer (Oertel et al 1987), and VIRTIS/ Venus Express (Drossart et al 2007). These observations were analyzed to retrieve the temperature and aerosol structure of the Venus mesosphere and to calculate the outgoing thermal flux (Schofield and Taylor 1982;Zasova et al 2007a; Fig.…”

Section: Global Radiative Energy Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Venus Atmospheric Thermal Structure and Radiative Balance

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From the discovery that Venus has an atmosphere during the 1761 transit by M. Lomonosov to the current exploration of the planet by the Akatsuki orbiter, we continue to learn about the planet's extreme climate and weather. This chapter attempts to provide a comprehensive but by no means exhaustive review of the results of the atmospheric thermal structure and radiative balance since the earlier works published in Venus and Venus II books from recent spacecraft and Earth based investigations and summarizes the gaps in [1411][1412][1413][1414] 1986). Thus, most of the new information about the atmospheric thermal structure has come from different remote sensing (Earth based and spacecraft) techniques using occultations (solar infrared, stellar ultraviolet and orbiter radio occultations), spectroscopy and microwave, short wave and thermal infrared emissions. The results are restricted to altitudes higher than about 40 km, except for one investigation of the near surface static stability inferred by Meadows and Crisp (J. Geophys. Res. 101:4595-4622, 1996) from 1 μm observations from Earth. Little information about the lower atmospheric structure is possible below about 40 km altitude from radio occultations due to large bending angles. The gaps in our knowledge include spectral albedo variations over time, vertical variation of the bulk composition of the atmosphere (mean molecular weight), the identity, properties and abundances of absorbers of incident solar radiation in the clouds. The causes of opacity variations in the nightside cloud cover and vertical gradients in the deep atmosphere bulk composition and its impact on static stability are also in need of critical studies. The knowledge gaps and questions about Venus and its atmosphere provide the incentive for obtaining the necessary measurements to understand the planet, which can provide some clues to learn about terrestrial exoplanets.

show abstract

Section: Infrared Emissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Global Radiative Energy Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

Venus Atmospheric Thermal Structure and Radiative Balance

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…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.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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...

show abstract

“…Global circulation transports the oxygen atoms to the night side, where they recombine giving ~75% of O 2 molecules in the 1 Δ g excited state that emits at λ ~ 1.27 μm. Figure 10 shows the vertical and spatial distribution of the O 2 ( 1 Δ g ) emission observed by VIRTIS (Drossart et al, 2007b). In limb geometry the observations integrate the O 2 emission along the line of sight.…”

Section: Non-lte Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Venus express: Highlights of the nominal mission

et al. 2009

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-Venus Express is the first European (ESA) mission to the planet Venus. Its main science goal is to carry out a global survey of the atmosphere, the plasma environment, and the surface of Venus from orbit. The payload consists of seven experiments. It includes a powerful suite of remote sensing imagers and spectrometers, instruments for in-situ investigation of the circumplanetary plasma and magnetic field, and a radio science experiment. The spacecraft, based on the Mars Express bus modified for the conditions at Venus, provides a versatile platform for nadir and limb observations as well as solar, stellar, and radio occultations. In April 2006 Venus Express was inserted in an elliptical polar orbit around Venus, with a pericentre height of ~250 km and apocentre distance of ~66000 km and an orbital period of 24 hours. orbit. In particular, fundamental problems in the fields of atmospheric structure and composition, morphology and distribution of clouds and hazes, atmospheric dynamics, properties of plasma and magnetic field, and escape processes, are all addressed by the Venus Express observations. These investigations will shed light on the current climate of Venus, will make it possible to reconstruct the evolutionary path of our sister planet, and will make significant contribution to the field of comparative planetology.The Venus Express payload consists to a great extent of the instruments inherited from the Mars Express and Rosetta missions, which were found to be quite suitable for making a breakthrough in Venus studies (Titov et al., 2001). The payload core consists of a suite of imagers and spectrometers, combining wide spectral range from the UV to the thermal IR. Broad band context imaging and high spectral resolution makes the mission payload the most capable remote sensing package ever flown to Venus. This suite is complemented by a radio science experiment to investigate the structure of the neutral atmosphere and ionosphere. Two experiments monitor the ambient magnetic field and study the plasma environment and escape processes.

show abstract

A dynamic upper atmosphere of Venus as revealed by VIRTIS on Venus Express

Cited by 96 publications

References 14 publications

Venus Atmospheric Thermal Structure and Radiative Balance

Venus Atmospheric Thermal Structure and Radiative Balance

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

Venus express: Highlights of the nominal mission

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About