Small-scale temperature fluctuations seen by the VeRa Radio Science Experiment on Venus Express
Publication date: 01 December 2013
Authors: Tellmann, S., et al.
Journal: Icarus
Volume: 221
Issue: 2
Page: 471-480
Year: 2012
Copyright: Elsevier Inc.
The Venus Express Radio Science Experiment VeRa retrieves atmospheric profiles in the mesosphere and troposphere of Venus in the approximate altitude range of 40-90 km. A data set of more than 500 profiles was retrieved between the orbit insertion of Venus Express in 2006 and the end of occultation season No. 11 in July 2011. The atmospheric profiles cover a wide range of latitudes and local times, enabling us to study the dependence of vertical small-scale temperature perturbations on local time and latitude. Temperature fluctuations with vertical wavelengths of 4 km or less are extracted from the measured temperature profiles in order to study small-scale gravity waves. Significant wave amplitudes are found in the stable atmosphere above the tropopause at roughly 60 km as compared with the only shallow temperature perturbations in the nearly adiabatic region of the adjacent middle cloud layer, below. Gravity wave activity shows a strong latitudinal dependence with the smallest wave amplitudes located in the low-latitude range, and an increase of wave activity with increasing latitude in both hemispheres; the greatest wave activity is found in the high-northern latitude range in the vicinity of Ishtar Terra, the highest topographical feature on Venus. We find evidence for a local time dependence of gravity wave activity in the low latitude range within +/-30° of the equator. Gravity wave amplitudes are at their maximum beginning at noon and continuing into the early afternoon, indicating that convection in the lower atmosphere is a possible wave source. [Remainder of abstract truncated due to character limitation]
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