Computer Science – Sound
Scientific paper
Dec 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufmsa51a0758i&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #SA51A-0758
Computer Science
Sound
3334 Middle Atmosphere Dynamics (0341, 0342), 3384 Waves And Tides, 5707 Atmospheres: Structure And Dynamics, 5757 Remote Sensing, 6295 Venus
Scientific paper
The primary goal of the Planet-C mission is to reveal the mechanism of the super-rotation. In the Venus atmosphere, a fast westward wind prevails at all latitudes. The wind speed increases with height from the ground surface to the cloud top (70 km). Since eddy viscosity transports momentum downward, there must be a mechanism which transports momentum upward to maintain the wind system. Possible mechanisms are: the combination of meridional circulation and horizontal viscosity (Gierasch mechanism); thermal tides which are excited in the cloud layer and propagate downward; and equatorial Kelvin waves which are excited in the lower atmosphere and propagate upward. Clues to the mystery will be found by the global 3-D observation from the orbiter. If the Gierasch mechanism is valid, large-scale horizontal disturbances which transport angular momentum equatorward will be detected by the tracking of near-IR cloud features around 50 km. Vertical structures of such disturbances will be inferred from the combination of images in the near-IR, mid-IR and UV covering altitudes from 35 to 70 km. The propagation of thermal tides or Kelvin waves will be detected not only by such imaging observations, but also by the temperature sounding with radio occultation. The vertical resolution of radio occultation (1 km) is suitable for visualizing the vertical propagation of such waves. The variation of the mean wind speed will be correlated with the activity of above-mentioned planetary-scale eddies: such a correlation will also be an important clue if observed. Meso-scale dynamics in the cloud layer, and their influences on the upper atmosphere dynamics, are also important issues. Development and decay of convective cells or gravity waves will be visualized by a continuous multi-wavelength observation of clouds. Lightning detection will also give clues to the convective activity in the cloud layer. The propagation of gravity waves from the cloud level to the thermosphere will be detected by radio occultation and airglow imaging. The momentum deposition by such gravity waves may affects the subsolar-to-antisolar circulation in the thermosphere. The intensity of airglow in the antisolar region is observed as an indicator of the downward velocity in the descending branch of the circulation.
Imamura Takashi
Nakamura Maho
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