ESA Science & Technology - Venus cloud top altitude map

Composite image of Venus's southern hemisphere. The colour mosaic shows a map of the cloud top altitude, derived from VIRTIS spectral imaging in the 1.6 μm CO₂ band, in which the relative depth is proportional to the cloud top pressure. The altitude map is plotted on top of a simultaneously captured VMC image that shows the cloud deck as seen in the narrow wavelength band around 0.365 μm (ultraviolet).

Titov et al. [2008] found the cloud top altitude to be constant at 72±1 km between latitudes 0°S and about 60°S. At latitudes south of 60°S the altitude of the cloud tops gradually decreases towards the pole and reaches 64 km in the eye of the polar vortex.