Horizontal Distribution of CO, OCS and H2O Below the Clouds of Venus From Venus Express/VIRTIS Observations

Details Horizontal Distribution of CO, OCS and H2O Below the Clouds of Venus From Venus Express/VIRTIS Observations Horizontal Distribution of CO, OCS and H2O Below the Clouds of Venus From Venus Express/VIRTIS Observations

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.1604b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #16.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.510

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

Nightside spectroscopy in the 2.3-μm window allows us to probe the composition of the lower atmosphere of Venus in the altitude range 28-42 km. Besides CO2, signatures from CO, OCS, H2O, HDO, HF and SO2 can be detected (e.g. Bézard et al. 1990, Nature 345, 508-511; Taylor et al. 1997, in Venus II, pp. 325-351, Univ. Arizona Press, Tucson). We report here on the first observations of this window on Venus' night side obtained with the VIRTIS instrument aboard Venus Express. It was observed at a resolving power (R) of about 2000 with the H-channel, a high-resolution spectrometer covering the range 1.9-5 μm, and at R 250 with the infrared M-channel, an imaging spectrometer for the range 1-5 μm.
We present maps of CO in the southern hemisphere obtained with the M-channel and latitudinal variations of CO, OCS and H2O derived from a set of VIRTIS-H scans. CO clearly increases from equator to 60°S with a slight decrease polewards. Longitudinal structure is also present. The inferred gradient is consistent with the ground-based observations of Marcq et al. (2005, Icarus 179, 375-386; 2006, Planet. Space Sci., in press) below 40° latitude and mirrors the enhancement seen at high northern latitudes in the Galileo data (Collard et al. 1993, Planet. Space Sci. 41, 487-494). CO appears as a tracer of the atmospheric dynamics, giving evidence for upwelling in the equatorial region and subsidence at high latitudes.

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