Images of Venus by three‐station radar interferometry—1977 results

Abstract

During the 1977 inferior conjunction of Venus, radar observations were made using three receiving stations as a multiple interferometer. Maps of surface reflectivity and altimetry were prepared from these observations. The new altimetry maps show considerable improvement in relation to many of the earlier maps made using the two‐station interferometer. In particular, there are consistent and explainable correlations between the altimetry and reflectivity maps that did not always exist in the past. The highest‐resolution maps (about 8 km) show three isolated mountains having altitudes of approximately 2 km above their environs, a pair of ridges separated by approximately 100 km and extending 800 km, and a few anomalous reflectivity features for which little or no altitude change is observed. Other maps at slightly lower resolution show a bright irregular ringed crater, a few large low‐reflectivity regions, a shallow crater 150 km in diameter, a gently sloping mountain, and a short ridge running north‐south. Many of the later features have been seen in earlier radar maps and should be useful in refining the spin axis and further characterizing the regolith of certain areas of Venus.