Temperature structure of the Venus atmosphere was derived from radio occultation data collected by the Pioneer Venus spacecraft during seven occultation seasons in the 1978-1983 period. The measurements, which cover latitudes from both poles to the equator from 40 km to 85 km altitudes, show a latitudinal dependence. At latitudes below 45 deg, there is a smooth temperature transition from the troposphere to the mesosphere. Between 60 and 80 deg, in the 'collar cloud' region, a strong temperature inversion (up to 30 K) appears, which disappears again in the polar areas (80-90 deg), where the mesosphere becomes isothermal without inversion. This temperature behavior is related to the persistent circulation pattern, in which a zonal retrograde motion below 45 deg changes gradually to a circumpolar vortex at the 'collar cloud'. A considerable temporal variability was observed in the thermal structure above the tropopause, suggesting a weather-like variability in the persistent circulation pattern.


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    Titel :

    Recent results on the Venus atmosphere from Pioneer Venus radio occultations


    Beteiligte:
    Kliore, A. J. (Autor:in)

    Erschienen in:

    Erscheinungsdatum :

    1985-01-01



    Medientyp :

    Sonstige


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch