Optical extinction due to aerosols in the upper haze of Venus: Four years of SOIR/VEX observations from 2006 to 2010

Valérie Wilquet (1) , Rachel Drummond (1) , Arnaud Mahieux (1) , Séverine Robert (1) , Ann Carine Vandaele (1) , Jean-Loup Bertaux (2)

1 BIRA-IASB - Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique
2 PLANETO - LATMOS

The variability of the aerosol loading in the mesosphere of Venus is investigated from a large data set obtained with SOIR, a channel of the SPICAV instrument suite onboard Venus Express. Vertical profiles of the extinction due to light absorption by aerosols are retrieved from a spectral window around 3.0μm recorded in many solar occultations (∼200) from September 2006 to September 2010. For this period, the continuum of light absorption is analyzed in terms of spatial and temporal variations of the upper haze of Venus. It is shown that there is a high short-term (a few Earth days) and a long-term (∼80 Earth days) variability of the extinction profiles within the data set. Latitudinal dependency of the aerosol loading is presented for the entire period considered and for shorter periods of time as well.

Mots clés: Venus; Atmosphere; Aerosols; Haze

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Valérie Wilquet, Rachel Drummond, Arnaud Mahieux, Séverine Robert, Ann Carine Vandaele, et al.. Optical extinction due to aerosols in the upper haze of Venus: Four years of SOIR/VEX observations from 2006 to 2010. Icarus, 2012, 217 (2), pp.875-881. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2011.11.002⟩. ⟨hal-00640422⟩