Gravity Waves in the Atmosphere of Venus as Observed by VIRTIS on Venus Express

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Trains of mesoscale waves have been regularly observed in the opacity of the clouds of Venus through the images obtained by the VIRTIS-M spectral camera onboard Venus Express. They have been studied at two cloud levels characterized by a high stability: the top of the clouds (at a height of 66 km) observed using the solar reflected ultraviolet light (380 nm) from the dayside, and the lower cloud (at a height of 47 km) observed using the thermal emission (1.74 µm) from the nightside. These waves have been identified as gravity waves through the comparison of their temporal frequencies with the Brunt-Vaisalla and acoustic cut-off frequencies. They are nearly zonal, with wavelengths of 60-130 km and are confined in wave packets of 400 to 1,600 km. They propagate westward and with low phase velocities relative to the zonal flow, having the waves within the lower cloud the slowest values. An analytic study and a preliminary numerical modelling of these waves are also introduced.

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