Cosmic ray ionization of lower Venus atmosphere

Abstract

Cosmic ray particles passing through dense lower atmosphere of Venus decay giving rise to various charged and neutral particles. The flux and degradation of dominant cascade particles namely neutrinos and pions are computed and ionization contributions at lower altitudes are estimated. Using the height profile of pion flux, the muon flux is computed and used to estimate ionization at lower altitudes. It is shown that cosmic ray produced ionization descends to much lower altitudes intercepting the thickness of Venus cloud deck. The dynamical features of Venus cloud deck are used to allow the likely charging and charge separation processes resulting into cloud-to-cloud lightning discharges.