Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model Research Articles

Modeling of observations of the OH nightglow in the venusian mesosphere

Venus airglow emissions have been unambiguously detected in the wavelength ranges of 1.40–1.49 and 2.6–3.14 μm in limb observations by the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) onboard the Venus Express (VEx) spacecraft and are attributed to the OH(2–0) and OH(1–0) Meinel band transitions. The integrated (limb slant path) emission rates for these bands were measured by Piccioni et al. (2008).Photochemical (Caltech/JPL KINETICS) and global circulation (Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model - VTGCM) model calculations suggest the observed OH emission is produced primarily via the Bates-Nicolet mechanism, as on the Earth, although Venus' background atmosphere is different than that of the Earth, but the modeled contribution of the HO2 + O → OH(v) + O2 reaction increases in the lower portion of the OH airglow layer. An overall difference of ~2 km in the peak heights of the OH(1–0) and OH(2–0) layers is seen in both the KINETICS and VTGCM simulations as a result of this change in the relative importance of H + O3 → OH(v) + O2 versus HO2 + O → OH(v) + O2 reactions with altitude.First time 3-D simulations of the OH Δv = 1 nightglow limb slant emission calculate a peak intensity of ~0.6 ± 0.3 MegaRayleighs at ~102 km altitude, an intensity that is consistent with Venus Express VIRTIS observations (Gérard et al. 2010; Soret et al. 2010, 2012) and KINETICS results. Soret et al. (2010) reported the intensity of the peak OH airglow increased from 0.30 to 0.40 MR from dusk to dawn but noted the observations used are not uniformly distributed and the observed emission is extremely variable, so a more detailed assessment of the observations was not possible. Our simulations show a decrease in the average OH(1–0) emission is symmetric about the midnight meridian, but the simulations find an asymmetric decrease from the equator to the poles. Consideration of transport and chemical lifetimes suggests modeling of OH above ~96 km requires explicit description of transport and vibrational-state-dependent chemistry.

Planetary‐Scale Wave Impacts on the Venusian Upper Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere

AbstractThis work examines the planetary wave‐induced variability within the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere of Venus by utilizing the Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM). Rossby and Kelvin wave perturbations are driven by variations in the geopotential height of the VTGCM lower boundary (∼70 km). A suite of simulations was conducted to examine the impact of the individual and combined waves propagating from two different lower boundary conditions (uniform and varying). The Kelvin wave is the more dominant wave which produces the most variability. The combination of the Kelvin and Rossby waves provides a maximum temperature amplitude of 13 K at 92 km and maximum zonal wind amplitude of 23 m/s at 102 km. The combined waves overall are able to propagate up to 125 km. Most of the variation within the temperature, winds, and composition occurs between 70 and 110 km. The varying lower boundary increases the magnitude of the wave deposition and atmospheric responses, but weakly changes the propagation altitude. The thermal variation due to the planetary waves does not reproduce most observed variations. The simulated O2 IR nightglow emission is sensitive to the waves with respect to intensity and local time, but lacks latitudinal variation. The integrated intensity ranges from 1.2 MR to 1.65 MR and the local time ranges from 0.33 local time to 23.6 local time. Overall, planetary waves do affect the atmospheric structure, but there are still large observed variations that planetary waves alone cannot explain (i.e., thermal structure).

Dayside temperatures in the Venus upper atmosphere from Venus Express/VIRTIS nadir measurements at 4.3μm

In this work, we analysed nadir observations of atmospheric infrared emissions carried out by VIRTIS, a high-resolution spectrometer on board the European spacecraft Venus Express. We focused on the ro-vibrational band of CO 2 at 4.3 µm on the dayside, whose fluorescence originates in the Venus upper mesosphere and above. This is the first time that a systematic sounding of these non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) emissions has been carried out in Venus using this geometry. As many as 143,218 spectra have been analysed on the dayside during the period 14/05/2006 to 14/09/2009. We designed an inversion method to obtain the atmospheric temperature from these non-thermal observations, including a NLTE line-by-line forward model and a pre-computed set of spectra for a set of thermal structures and illumination conditions. Our measurements sound a broad region of the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere of Venus ranging from 10 −2 –10 −5 mb (which in the Venus International Reference Atmosphere, VIRA, is approximately 100–150 km during the daytime) and show a maximum around 195 ± 10 K in the subsolar region, decreasing with latitude and local time towards the terminator. This is in qualitative agreement with predictions by a Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM) after a proper averaging of altitudes for meaningful comparisons, although our temperatures are colder than the model by about 25 K throughout. We estimate a thermal gradient of about 35 K between the subsolar and antisolar points when comparing our data with nightside temperatures measured at similar altitudes by SPICAV, another instrument on Venus Express (VEx). Our data show a stable temperature structure through five years of measurements, but we also found episodes of strong heating/cooling to occur in the subsolar region of less than two days.

Doppler winds mapped around the lower thermospheric terminator of Venus: 2012 solar transit observations from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

Doppler shifts of sub-millimeter 12CO (346GHz) and 13CO (330GHz) and millimeter 12CO (230GHz) line absorptions were mapped around the circum-disk terminator of Venus before, during, and after the June 5, 2012 solar transit, employing the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Radiative transfer analysis of the solar transit 12CO thermal line absorptions yields cross-terminator winds in the Venus lower thermosphere (100–120km) over the local time (LT) and latitude extent of the atmospheric limb presented by the inferior conjunction, nightside apparent disk of Venus. The unique solar transit geometry provides enhanced spatial resolution of the terminator (0.2h in local time, LT) associated with solar illumination of this atmospheric limb region, and so provides the first characterization of the instantaneous distribution of cross terminator flow in the Venus lower thermosphere versus LT and latitude. Furthermore, by mapping Doppler winds over the nightside disk preceding and following the solar transit, we place the highly variable zonal and subsolar-to-antisolar (SSAS) circulation components of the nightside lower thermosphere (Clancy, R.T., Sandor, B.J., Moriarty-Schieven, G.H. [2012a]. Icarus 217, 794–812) in the context of the day-to-night cross terminator flow that drives this chaotic nightside dynamical regime. The solar transit observations indicate substantially supersonic (200–300m/s) day-to-night cross terminator winds that are significantly (by 50–150m/s) stronger over the evening versus the morning terminator. They also exhibit surprisingly large (50%) variations over a 1–2h timescale that challenge explanation. These behaviors likely contribute to both the variability and the apparent retrograde zonal component of circulation in the Venus nightside upper atmosphere. Hence, these observations support dynamical arguments for preferential deceleration of the morning sector SSAS circulation (e.g., Alexander, M.J. [1992]. Geophys. Res. Lett. 19, 2207–2210), as recently simulated in the Venus thermospheric general circulation model of Hoshino et al. (Hoshinom, N. et al. [2013]. J. Geophys. Res. 118, 2004–2015).

Upper atmosphere temperature structure at the Venusian terminators: A comparison of SOIR and VTGCM results

Venus Express SOIR terminator profiles of CO2 densities and corresponding temperatures have been determined for 132 selected orbits obtained between 2006 and 2013. These recently recalibrated measurements provide temperature profiles at the Venusian terminator over approximately 70–160km, revealing a striking permanent temperature minimum (at about 125km) and a weaker temperature maximum (over 100–110km). In addition, topside temperatures (above 140km) reveal a warming trend consistent with a typical thermospheric structure. These features are reflected in the corresponding CO2 density profiles, and provide detailed constraints for global circulation models of the upper atmosphere.New Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM) simulations are presented for conditions appropriate to these SOIR measurements. In particular, solar minimum to moderate fluxes are specified and mean values of eddy diffusion and wave drag parameters are utilized. Recent upgrades to the VTGCM code now include more realistic lower boundary conditions at ~70km near cloud tops. Model temperature profiles are extracted from the terminators that correspond to five latitude bins presently used in the SOIR data analysis. Averaging of VTGCM temperature profiles in each of these bins (at each terminator) is conducted to match SOIR sampling. Comparisons of these SOIR and VTGCM temperature profiles are shown. Most notably, the observed temperature minimum near 125km and the weaker temperature maximum over 100–110km are generally reproduced by the VTGCM at the correct pressure/altitude levels. However, magnitudes of simulated and measured temperatures are somewhat different as a function of latitude. In addition, VTGCM evening terminator (ET) temperatures are simulated to be modestly warmer than corresponding morning terminator (MT) values, a result of stronger ET than MT zonal winds at/above about 130km. The SOIR terminator temperatures thus far do not reveal this consistent trend, suggesting the VTGCM climate based winds may not precisely represent the averaged conditions during SOIR sampling. Overall, these data-model comparisons reveal that both radiative and dynamical processes are responsible for maintaining averaged temperatures and driving significant variations in terminator temperature profiles.

Carbon monoxide and temperature in the upper atmosphere of Venus from VIRTIS/Venus Express non-LTE limb measurements

The upper mesosphere and the lower thermosphere of Venus (from 90 to 150km altitude) seems to play a transition region in photochemistry, dynamics and radiation, but is still very poorly constrained observationally. Since 2006 VIRTIS on board Venus Express has been obtaining limb observations of CO fluorescent infrared emissions in a systematic manner. This study represents the scientific exploitation of this dataset and reports new information on the composition and temperature at those altitudes. This work is focused on the 4.7μm emission of CO as observed by VIRTIS, which contains two emission bands, the fundamental and the first hot of the main CO isotope. A specific scheme for a simultaneous retrieval of CO and temperature is proposed, based on results of a comprehensive non-LTE model of these molecular emissions. A forward model containing such non-LTE model is used at the core of an inversion scheme that consists of two steps: (i) a minimization procedure of model-data differences and (ii) a linear inversion around the solution of the first step. A thorough error analysis is presented, which shows that the retrievals of CO and temperature are very noisy but can be improved by suitable averaging of data. These averages need to be consistent with the non-LTE nature of the emissions. Unfortunately, the data binning process reduced the geographical coverage of the results. The obtained retrieval results indicate a global distribution of the CO in the Venus dayside with a maximum around the sub-solar point, and a decrease of a factor 2 towards high latitudes. Also a gradient from noon to the morning and evening sides is evident in the equator, this being smaller at high latitudes. No morning–afternoon differences in the CO concentration are observed, or are comparable to our retrieval errors. All this argues for a CO distribution controlled by dynamics in the lower thermosphere, with a dominant sub-solar to anti-solar gradient. Similar variations are found with the Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM), but the VIRTIS CO is systematically larger than in the model. The thermal structure obtained by VIRTIS presents a hint of local maximum around 115km near the terminator at equatorial latitudes, but not at noon, in clear contrast to VTGCM predictions and to an upper mesosphere in pure radiative balance. A few tentative ideas to explain these model-data discrepancies are discussed.

Dayside thermal structure of Venus' upper atmosphere characterized by a global model

Observations of Venus' dayside thermal structure are being conducted through ground based observatories. These temperature measurements, along with those from several instruments onboard the current Venus Express mission, are augmenting the previous thermal structure data from past missions (e.g., Veneras', Pioneer Venus Orbiter, Pioneer Venus Probes). These recent ground‐based and VEx observations reveal the Venus dayside lower thermosphere to be considerably warmer and dynamically important than previously understood. In this study, a three dimensional general circulation model, the Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM), is used to provide dayside temperature predictions for comparison to these recent ground based observations. Such a comparison serves to identify and quantify the underlying thermal processes responsible for the observed dayside temperature structure. The VTGCM reproduces the dayside temperatures observed near 110 km at noon from 40°S to 40°N very well. In addition, the global winds generated by these warm dayside temperatures are shown to give rise to dayside upwelling (divergence) and nightside subsidence (convergence) resulting in nightside warming near the anti‐solar point at ∼104 km. Corresponding nightside temperatures reach ∼198 K, in accord with averaged measurements. This agreement implies (1) it is important for GCMs to include the updated radiative heating and cooling rates presented in Roldán et al. (2000) and (2) the current VTS3 and VIRA empirical models are in‐sufficient in representing the warm regions observed in the thermal structure of the dayside lower thermosphere (∼100 to 130 km) and need to be updated.

Understanding the variability of nightside temperatures, NO UV and O2IR nightglow emissions in the Venus upper atmosphere

[1] Venus Express (VEX) has been monitoring key nightglow emissions and thermal features (O2 IR nightglow, NO UV nightglow, and nightside temperatures) which contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the global dynamics and circulation patterns above ∼90 km. The nightglow emissions serve as effective tracers of Venus' middle and upper atmosphere global wind system due to their variable peak brightness and horizontal distributions. A statistical map has been created utilizing O2 IR nightglow VEX observations, and a statistical map for NO UV is being developed. A nightside warm layer near 100 km has been observed by VEX and ground-based observations. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM) has been updated and revised in order to address these key VEX observations and to provide diagnostic interpretation. The VTGCM is first used to capture the statistically averaged mean state of these three key observations. This correspondence implies a weak retrograde superrotating zonal flow (RSZ) from ∼80 km to 110 km and above 110 km the emergence of modest RSZ winds approaching 60 m s−1 above ∼130 km. Subsequently, VTGCM sensitivity tests are performed using two tuneable parameters (the nightside eddy diffusion coefficient and the wave drag term) to examine corresponding variability within the VTGCM. These tests identified a possible mechanism for the observed noncorrelation of the O2 and NO emissions. The dynamical explanation requires the nightglow layers to be at least ∼15 km apart and the retrograde zonal wind to increase dramatically over 110 to 130 km.

Atomic oxygen distributions in the Venus thermosphere: Comparisons between Venus Express observations and global model simulations

Nightglow emissions provide insight into the global thermospheric circulation, specifically in the transition region (∼70–120 km). The O 2 IR nightglow statistical map created from Venus Express (VEx) Visible and InfraRed Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) observations has been used to deduce a three-dimensional atomic oxygen density map. In this study, the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM) is utilized to provide a self-consistent global view of the atomic oxygen density distribution. More specifically, the VTGCM reproduces a 2D nightside atomic oxygen density map and vertical profiles across the nightside, which are compared to the VEx atomic oxygen density map. Both the simulated map and vertical profiles are in close agreement with VEx observations within a ∼30° contour of the anti-solar point. The quality of agreement decreases past ∼30°. This discrepancy implies the employment of Rayleigh friction within the VTGCM may be an over-simplification for representing wave drag effects on the local time variation of global winds. Nevertheless, the simulated atomic oxygen vertical profiles are comparable with the VEx profiles above 90 km, which is consistent with similar O 2 ( 1Δ) IR nightglow intensities. The VTGCM simulations demonstrate the importance of low altitude trace species as a loss for atomic oxygen below 95 km. The agreement between simulations and observations provides confidence in the validity of the simulated mean global thermospheric circulation pattern in the lower thermosphere.

P.5.003 Pilot study of D2 dopamine receptor, ALDH2, ADH2 and ADH3 gene allelic association in polynesian alcohol and cannabis users

The upper mesosphere and the lower thermosphere of Venus (from 90 to 150 km altitude) seems to play a transition region in photochemistry, dynamics and radiation, but is still very poorly constrained observationally. Since 2006 VIRTIS on board Venus Express has been obtaining limb observations of CO fluorescent infrared emissions in a systematic manner. This study represents the scientific exploitation of this dataset and reports new information on the composition and temperature at those altitudes. This work is focused on the 4.7 μm emission of CO as observed by VIRTIS, which contains two emission bands, the fundamental and the first hot of the main CO isotope. A specific scheme for a simultaneous retrieval of CO and temperature is proposed, based on results of a comprehensive non-LTE model of these molecular emissions. A forward model containing such non-LTE model is used at the core of an inversion scheme that consists of two steps: (i) a minimization procedure of model-data differences and (ii) a linear inversion around the solution of the first step. A thorough error analysis is presented, which shows that the retrievals of CO and temperature are very noisy but can be improved by suitable averaging of data. These averages need to be consistent with the non-LTE nature of the emissions. Unfortunately, the data binning process reduced the geographical coverage of the results. The obtained retrieval results indicate a global distribution of the CO in the Venus dayside with a maximum around the sub-solar point, and a decrease of a factor 2 towards high latitudes. Also a gradient from noon to the morning and evening sides is evident in the equator, this being smaller at high latitudes. No morning–afternoon differences in the CO concentration are observed, or are comparable to our retrieval errors. All this argues for a CO distribution controlled by dynamics in the lower thermosphere, with a dominant sub-solar to anti-solar gradient. Similar variations are found with the Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM), but the VIRTIS CO is systematically larger than in the model. The thermal structure obtained by VIRTIS presents a hint of local maximum around 115 km near the terminator at equatorial latitudes, but not at noon, in clear contrast to VTGCM predictions and to an upper mesosphere in pure radiative balance. A few tentative ideas to explain these model-data discrepancies are discussed.

The impact of gravity waves on the Venus thermosphere and O2 IR nightglow

The terrestrial Fritts and Lu [1993] gravity wave parameterization, based on the theory of wave saturation, has been adopted within the Venus thermospheric general circulation model (VTGCM) to examine the impact of upward propagating gravity waves on the Venus thermospheric subsolar‐to‐antisolar (SS‐AS) circulation and the resultant O2 IR nightglow. It is shown that the drag force generated by the breakdown of gravity waves can effectively slow down the winds, which results in reproducing the observed day/night contrasts in temperatures and densities. With stronger drag force on the dawn terminator than on the dusk terminator, the apparently superrotating zonal wind can be forced by the dissipation of gravity waves. The equivalent superrotating zonal wind varies both with local time and altitude. The simulated distribution of the O2 IR nightglow is strongly sensitive to small changes of the characteristic intrinsic phase speeds at the model lower boundary. This sensitivity implies that minor variations in gravity wave momentum fluxes to the thermosphere can give rise to large O2 IR emission variations with time and space, in agreement with ground‐based observations.

Venus O2 visible and IR nightglow: Implications for lower thermosphere dynamics and chemistry

The National Center for Atmospheric Research thermospheric general circulation model for the Venus thermosphere is modified to examine two observed night airglow features, both of which serve as sensitive tracers of the thermospheric circulation. New O2 nightglow data from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) star tracker (O2 Herzberg II at 400–800 nm) and ground‐based telescopes (O2 IR at 1.27 μm) (Allen et al., 1992) yield additional model constraints for estimating Venus winds over 100–130 km. Atomic oxygen, produced by dayside CO2 photolysis peaking near 110 km, and transported to the nightside by the global wind system, is partially destroyed through three‐body recombination, yielding the O2 Herzberg II visible nightglow. This emission is very sensitive to horizontal winds at altitudes between 100 and 130 km. Other trace species catalytic reactions also contribute to the production of the very strong nightside infrared (1.27 μm) emission. This paper examines the dynamical and chemical implications of these new data using the Venus thermospheric general circulation model (VTGCM) as an analysis tool. Three‐dimensional calculations are presented for both solar maximum and solar medium conditions, corresponding to early PVO (1979–1981) and PVO entry (mid‐1992) time periods. Very distinct periods are identified in which zonal winds are alternately weak and strong in the Venus lower thermosphere. VTGCM sensitivity studies are conducted to assess the impacts of potential changes in thermospheric zonal and day‐to‐night winds, and eddy diffusion on the corresponding nightglow intensities. It appears that cyclostrophic balance extends above 80 km periodically, owing to a reversal of the upper mesosphere latitudinal temperature gradient, and thereby producing strong zonal winds and correspondingly modified O2 nightglow distributions that are observed.

The Venus nitric oxide night airglow: Model calculations based on the Venus thermospheric general circulation model

Pioneer Venus (PV) orbiter ultraviolet spectrometer (OUVS) images of the nightside airglow in the (0, 1) δ band of nitric oxide showed a maximum whose average location was at 0200 local solar time just south of the equator. The average airglow brightness calculated over a portion of the nightside for 35 early orbits during the Pioneer Venus mission was a factor of 4 lower than this maximum. Recent recalibration of the PV OUVS instrument and reanalysis of the data yield new values for this statistical maximum (1.9±0.6 kR) and the nightside average (400–460± 20 R) nightglow. This emission is produced by radiative recombination of N and O atoms transported from their source on the dayside to the nightside by the Venus thermospheric circulation. The Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM) has been extended to incorporate odd nitrogen chemistry in order to examine the dynamical and chemical processes required to give rise to this emission. Its predictions of dayside N atom densities are also compared with empirical models based on Pioneer Venus measurements. Calculations are presented corresponding to OUVS data taken during solar maximum (F10.7 = 180–200). The average production of nitrogen atoms on the dayside is about 9.0×109 atoms cm−2 s−1. Approximately 30% of this dayside source is required for transport to the nightside to yield the observed dark‐disk nightglow features. The statistical location and intensity of the bright spot are well reproduced, as well as the altitude of the airglow layer. The importance of the large‐scale transport and eddy diffusion on the global N(4S) distribution is also evaluated. Uncertainties in measured rate coefficients and branching ratios and their effects on the calculated airglow are discussed. It is found that model parameters can be adjusted to reproduce either the OUVS nightglow or the observed dayside N densities; a best match to both implies a VTGCM global wind system that is a factor of 1.5–2.0 slower than at present. Predictions are also made for comparison with OUVS solar minimum data.