Venus atmospheric and surface studies from VIRTIS on Venus Express

Abstract

The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on Venus Express, after five years in a polar Venus orbit, provided an enormous amount of new data including a three-dimensional view of the atmosphere and information on global surface properties of the planet. VIRTIS is a complex imaging spectrometer that combines three unique data channels in one compact instrument. Two of the channels are committed to spectral mapping (VIRTIS-M) and a third one to high spectral resolution studies (VIRTIS-H). The paper gives an overview about the experimental goals and the instrument performance. It discusses some selected scientific results achieved by VIRTIS, among them thermal structure and properties of the lower, middle and upper atmosphere including dynamics, polar vortex, nightglows, and NLTE effects as well as surface features obtained from nightside emission measurements in the NIR atmospheric windows.