Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008epsc.conf...94i&link_type=abstract
European Planetary Science Congress 2008, Proceedings of the conference held 21-25 September, 2008 in Münster, Germany. Online a
Other
Scientific paper
Observations of Venus' mesosphere by the VIRTIS-M instrument of the Venus Express spacecraft have been used to investigate the spatial distribution of CO above Venus' night side cloud tops by fitting the CO absorption in the (1-0) CO band around 4.7 μm [1]. Estimates of the CO abundance above the cloud tops have also been made using Venus Express SPICAV/SOIR instrument [2]. Deeper in the atmosphere, analysis of VIRTIS-M [3] and VIRTIS-H [4] observations deduce an abundance of at least 30 ppm at an altitude of 30 km, with considerable increase of ~50% towards the poles. We find little spatial variation in the abundance of mesospheric CO at mid-latitudes, with a retrieved abundance of approximately 40±10 ppm just above the cloud tops between 65 and 70 km altitude. Unfortunately, we find it very difficult to constrain the abundance of CO in the cold polar collar, centred at about 70ºS, as the retrieved temperature structure in the CO line-forming region, which agrees well with other estimates of Venus' thermal structure [5] masks the absorption lines (Fig.1.). However, there is a possibility that CO increases towards the poles as we detect a significant signature of high levels of CO over Venus' south polar dipole feature in all the observations analyzed so far (Fig. 2.). To constrain the abundance of CO more closely will require the analysis of higher resolution VIRTIS-H observations. In addition, limb observations would greatly help to resolve any possible temperature/cloud ambiguities and allow us to assess vertical variations in the abundance of CO.
de Kok Remco
Drossart Pierre
Grassi Daniele
Irwin Patrick G. J.
Negrão Alberto
No associations
LandOfFree
Spatial variability of carbon monoxide above Venus' night-side cloud tops from Venus Express/ VIRTIS measurements does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Spatial variability of carbon monoxide above Venus' night-side cloud tops from Venus Express/ VIRTIS measurements, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Spatial variability of carbon monoxide above Venus' night-side cloud tops from Venus Express/ VIRTIS measurements will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1792850