Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5486954 | Icarus | 2018 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
The temperature of the night side of Venus at about 95â¯km has been determined by using spectral features of the hydroxyl airglow emission around 3 µm, recorded from July 2006 to July 2008 by VIRTIS onboard Venus Express. The retrieved temperatures vary from 145.5 to about 198.1â¯K with an average value of 176.3â¯Â±â¯14.3â¯K and are in good agreement with previous ground-based and space observations. The variability with respect to latitude and local time has been studied, showing a minimum of temperature at equatorial latitudes, while temperature values increase toward mid latitudes with a local maximum at about 35°N. The present work provides an independent contribution to the temperature estimation in the transition region between the Venus upper mesosphere and the lower thermosphere, by using the OH emission as a thermometer, following the technique previously applied to the high-resolution O2(a1Îg) airglow emissions observed from ground.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Space and Planetary Science
Authors
A. Migliorini, M. Snels, J.-C. Gérard, L. Soret, G. Piccioni, P. Drossart,