Densities and temperatures in the Venus mesosphere and lower thermosphere retrieved from SOIR on board Venus Express: Carbon dioxide measurements at the Venus terminator

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Authors
Mahieux, A.
Vandaele, A.C.
Robert, S.
Wilquet, V.
Drummond, R.
Montmessin, F.
Bertaux, J.L.
Discipline
Earth and related Environmental sciences
Subject
air temperature
carbon dioxide
mesosphere
planetary atmosphere
satellite imagery
thermosphere
Venus
Audience
Scientific
Date
2012Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
SOIR is a high-resolution spectrometer flying on board the ESA Venus Express mission. It performs solar occultations of the Venus high atmosphere, and so defines unique vertical profiles of many of the Venus key species. In this paper, we focus on the Venus main constituent, carbon dioxide. We explain how the temperature, the total density, and the total pressure are derived from the observed CO 2 density vertical profiles. A striking permanent temperature minimum at 125 km is observed. The data set is processed in order to obtain a Venus Atmosphere from SOIR measurements at the Terminator (VAST) compilation for different latitude regions and extending from 70 up to 170 km in altitude. The results are compared to many literature results obtained from ground-based observations, previous missions, and the Venus Express mission. The homopause altitude is also determined.
Citation
Mahieux, A.; Vandaele, A.C.; Robert, S.; Wilquet, V.; Drummond, R.; Montmessin, F.; Bertaux, J.L. (2012). Densities and temperatures in the Venus mesosphere and lower thermosphere retrieved from SOIR on board Venus Express: Carbon dioxide measurements at the Venus terminator. , Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets, Vol. 117, Issue 7, E07001, DOI: 10.1029/2012JE004058.Identifiers
scopus: 2-s2.0-84863468204
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng