Minor species measurements near the North Pole of Venus using VIRTIS-H/Venus Express

Details Minor species measurements near the North Pole of Venus using VIRTIS-H/Venus Express Minor species measurements near the North Pole of Venus using VIRTIS-H/Venus Express

Sep 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008epsc.conf..499m&link_type=abstract

European Planetary Science Congress 2008, Proceedings of the conference held 21-25 September, 2008 in Münster, Germany. Online a

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The polar regions of Venus cannot be observed properly from Earth due to the very small obliquity of Venus. Spacecrafts such as Pioneer Venus and Venus Express have provided most of our current knowledge such as the discovery of northern and southern polar vortices, revealing unexpectedly complex atmospheric dynamics in these regions. Some minor gaseous species such as carbon monoxide (CO) and carbonyl sulfide (OCS) can be measured in the deep atmosphere thanks to their infrared absorption bands located in severalCO2 andH2O atmospheric windows which enable some thermal radiation to escape from the night side of the planet. Both CO and OCS seem to exhibit latitudinal variability [1], so that they can be used as tracers of the global dynamics in otherwise unreachable altitudes (30-40 km in the 2:3 µm window): CO being more abundant at higher latitudes, and conversely OCS decrasing from 0° to 60°N and S. These opposite variations are thought to originate from the vertical and meridional circulation and from their opposite vertical gradients - CO is produced above the clouds whereas OCS is produced near the surface. After more than 2 years in orbit, the spectral imager VIRTIS aboard Venus Express has yielded enough data northwards of 70°N so that we could proceed to a first examination of how the latitudinal patterns in composition established at lower latitudes extend to the northern polar region.

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