Virtis/venus Express Imaging Of The Atmospheric Limb Of Venus Using Co2 Emissions Under Non-local Thermodynamic Equilibrium

Details Virtis/venus Express Imaging Of The Atmospheric Limb Of Venus Using Co2 Emissions Under Non-local Thermodynamic Equilibrium Virtis/venus Express Imaging Of The Atmospheric Limb Of Venus Using Co2 Emissions Under Non-local Thermodynamic Equilibrium

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.6103l&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #61.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.539

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

After only one year orbiting Venus, the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on Venus Express is offering us a unique opportunity to study the upper atmosphere of the planet in the 1-5 micron spectral range. We are exploring Venus atmosphere using two different signals: VIRTIS-M 2-D images at a resolving power of about 400 and VIRTIS-H spectra at higher resolution (about 1800). We will first report on VIRTIS limb vertical emission profiles using the CO2 non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) emission at 4.3 micron originated above about 80 km. Model simulations (Lopez-Valverde et al. 2007) predict the peak of the emission to be located at 110-120 km and to decrease with increasing Solar Zenith Agle (SZA). Analysis of vertical profiles shows a qualitative agreement with the model, although some emission features in the CO band's wings pose interesting quantitative contraints to the theoretical model. We will also present 2-D images from two particular Venus Express orbits, namely #43 and #25. The first one was obtained during the pericenter and the second one at the apocenter of the orbit. From apocente the Virtis pixel size gives a spatial resolution around 15 km and we can obtain partial images ("data-qubes") of large sections of the Venus disk and limb for the first time. During periapsis, the proximity to the limb of the planet improves the vertical resolution by more than 2 orders of magnitude. For this case, simultaneous measurements of both signals (V-H & V-M) are available and permit mutual validation. As we will show, not only SZA and altitude effects are present, but these images indicate real atmospheric variability of large amplitude at high altitudes.

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