Direct observations of Venus upper mesospheric temperatures from ground based spectroscopy of CO2

Abstract

We report direct observations of temperatures in the Venus upper mesosphere around 110 km altitude (0.15 Pa). Information about temperatures at these altitude regions are sparse especially for the dayside of Venus. Data was acquired during three observing campaigns between March and June 2009 at the McMath‐Pierce Solar Telescope of the National Solar Observatory on Kitt Peak, Arizona, using the Cologne Tuneable Heterodyne Infrared Spectrometer (THIS). The linewidths of fully resolved non‐thermal emission lines in the 10.6 μm band of CO2 were used to derive temperatures on the Venus dayside. Temperatures were measured with high spatial resolution at 115 positions on the Venus dayside between 67°N and 90°S and various offsets from the apparent discs central meridian longitude (CML) providing the first extensive dataset for the dayside mesosphere. The retrieved temperatures show a strong local time and latitude dependence. Values of 160 K are observed close to the terminator and at the South pole while temperaturs reach 250 K at the sub solar point. These high values are in disagreement with the predictions of the Venus International Reference Atmosphere model but are consistent with earlier measurements from 2007.