Electromagnetic wave propagation in the surface‐ionosphere cavity of Venus

Abstract

[1] The propagation of extremely low frequency (ELF) waves in the Earth surfaceionosphere cavity and the properties of the related Schumann resonances have been extensively studied in order to explain their relation with atmospheric electric phenomena. A similar approach can be used to understand the electric environment of Venus and, more importantly, search for the evidence of possible atmospheric lightning activity, which remains a controversial issue. We revisit the available models for ELF propagation in the cavity of Venus, recapitulate the similarities and differences with other planets, and present a full wave propagation finite element model with improved parameterization. The new model introduces corrections for refraction phenomena in the atmosphere; it takes into account the day-night asymmetry of the cavity and calculates the resulting eigenfrequency line splitting. The analytical and numerical approaches are validated against the very low frequency electric field data collected by Venera 11 and 12 during their descents through the atmosphere of Venus. Instrumentation suitable for the measurement of ELF waves in planetary atmospheres is briefly addressed.

A Review of Low Frequency Electromagnetic Wave Phenomena Related to Tropospheric-Ionospheric Coupling Mechanisms

“…Nickolaenko and Hayakawa (2002) and transverse modes and because refraction phenomena occur in the low atmosphere (Simões et al, 2008b), reducing model accuracy.…”

Detection of ionospheric Alfvén resonator signatures in the equatorial ionosphere

“…Figure 1). An algorithm based in the finite element method has been previously used to solve low frequency electromagnetic wave propagation phenomena (transient, eigenmode, harmonic, and parametric analyses) in the surface-ionosphere cavity of the Earth and other planets [Simões et al, 2007[Simões et al, , 2008a[Simões et al, , 2008b[Simões et al, , 2009; the algorithm has been upgraded with the fluid dynamics formalism for solving MHD equations and computing IAR eigenfunctions. The domain and MHD code implementation are 3D but medium parameterization is usually 1D (spherically symmetric).…”

Observation and modeling of the Earth‐ionosphere cavity electromagnetic transverse resonance and variation of the D‐region electron density near sunset

“…[11] To interpret the balloon data, we have developed a wave propagation finite element model (WP-FEM) that benefits from algorithms previously used to study wave propagation on Earth and other planetary environments [Simões et al, 2008a[Simões et al, , 2008b. We consider that lightning discharges occur at 10 km, which is appropriate to simulating cloud-to-ground and ground-to-cloud (vertical) and inter-cloud (horizontal) lightning in tropical convective systems.…”