An investigation of the SO2 content of the venusian mesosphere using SPICAV-UV in nadir mode
✍ Scribed by Emmanuel Marcq; Denis Belyaev; Franck Montmessin; Anna Fedorova; Jean-Loup Bertaux; Ann Carine Vandaele; Eddy Neefs
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 834 KB
- Volume
- 211
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0019-1035
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✦ Synopsis
Using the SPICAV-UV spectrometer aboard Venus Express in nadir mode, we were able to derive spectral radiance factors in the middle atmosphere of Venus in the 170-320 nm range at a spectral resolution of R ' 200 during 2006 and 2007 in the northern hemisphere. By comparison with a radiative transfer model of the upper atmosphere of Venus, we could derive column abundance above the visible cloud top for SO 2 using its spectral absorption bands near 280 and 220 nm. SO 2 column densities show large temporal and spatial variations on a horizontal scale of a few hundred kilometers. Typical SO 2 column densities at low latitudes (up to 50°N) were found between 5 and 50 lm-atm, whereas in the northern polar region SO 2 content was usually below 5 lm-atm. The observed latitudinal variations follow closely the cloud top altitude derived by SPICAV-IR and are thought to be of dynamical origin. Also, a sudden increase of SO 2 column density in the whole northern hemisphere has been observed in early 2007, possibly related to a convective episode advecting some deep SO 2 into the upper atmosphere.
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