Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.1508l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #15.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.975
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) on ESA's Venus Express mission has been systematically imaging the planet in four filters since June 2006. These images from the 24-hour eccentric, polar orbit show the dynamic behavior of the Venus cloud cover with rapid changes in relative brightness on global, regional and small scales and presence of planetary scale and small scale gravity waves (high Northern latitudes). They have enabled estimates of the large scale circulation of the cloud level flow from multiple, independent efforts for the southern hemisphere which is imaged routinely. The results are generally consistent and appear to show presence of planetary waves and solar thermal tides. The precise vertical level of the measured cloud motions is not known but has been estimated to be between 70 km at low latitudes and 65 km in polar regions with a rise near the mid-latitudes to about 73 km. Temporal or local solar time changes in the cloud top level appear possible but have not been investigated. Thus some of the apparent temporal variability can be due to cloud level changes. The short term average zonal flow is observed to fluctuate between 80 m/s - 100 m/s at low latitudes while its meridional dependence shows either a weak increase with latitude or near constant magnitude to mid-latitudes and decreasing towards the pole, generally consistent with the profile expected for a vortex circulation. The mean meridional flow is poleward at most latitudes, peaking in mid-latitudes. Higher resolution images with shorter time interval tend to show slightly faster motions of clouds and thus the VMC large scale tracking results should be interpreted with caution. Space time composites of the southern hemisphere images consistently show the presence of hemispheric vortex centered at the south pole.
Khatuntsev Igor
Krauss Robert J.
Limaye Sanjay
Markiewicz Wojciech J.
Patsaeva Marina
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