Vertical structure of the Venus cloud tops and the nature of the UV absorber
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany (from February 2006 to July 20007)
Advisors: Dimitri Titov, Wojciech Markiewicz, Horst Uwe Keller (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), Jürgen Blum (Technical University at Braunschweig)
Collaborators: Richard Moissl (MPS, de), Nuno Manoel (MPS,de/OAL, pt), Miguel Almeida (ESAC, ESA, es) and Nikolai Ignatiev (IKI, ru)
Abstract
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Vertical structure of the upper haze from the limb observations
- cloud top altitude, its variations with latitude and local solar time;
- detached haze layers and statistics of their appearance;
- correlation with SPICAV sounding of the upper haze in stellar occultations
- Dynamical properties (e.g eddy diffusion) of the mesosphere derived from the limb observations.
- Optical properties of the haze particles derived from the limb observations in the UV, visible and near-IR (VMC absolute calibration will be needed here).
- Distribution of the UV absorber in the upper cloud from
- phase dependence of the UV contrasts;
- cloud top “altimetry” from near IR CO2 bands (VIRTIS).
Selected Publications
Russo et. al. — First results of the upper haze investigation by VMC Limb Observations
European Geophysical Union Congress
Wien, Austria — April 2007
Russo et. al. — First results of the upper haze investigation by VMC Limb Observations
Morond workshop
La Thuile, Italy — March 2007
Russo, et al. — Imaging of the Venus night side with the Venus Monitoring Camera onboard Venus Express
European Planetary Science Congress
Berlin, Germany — September 2006