VEX MPS – supporting the Venus Express Mission Planning Concept

Dynamics of the Venus upper atmosphere: Outstanding problems and new constraints expected from Venus Express

A consistent picture of the dynamics of the Venus upper atmosphere from 90 to 200 km has begun to emerge [e.g., Bougher, S.W., Alexander, M.J., Mayr, H.G., 1997. Upper Atmosphere Dynamics: Global Circulation and Gravity Waves. Venus II, CH. 2.4. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 259–292; Lellouch, E., Clancy, T., Crisp, D., Kliore, A., Titov, D., Bougher, S.W., 1997. Monitoring of Mesosp...

Coordinated Hubble Space Telescope and Venus Express Observations of Venusâ€TM upper cloud deck

Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) UV observations of Venus’ upper cloud tops were obtained between 20N and 40S latitude on December 28, 2010; January 22, 2011 and January 27, 2011 in coordination with the Venus Express (VEx) mission. The high spectral (0.27 nm) and spatial (40–60 km/pixel) resolution HST/STIS data provide the first direct and simultaneous record of the lati...

Understanding the variability of nightside temperatures, NO UV and O2 IR 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 pea...

First observation of the Venus UV dayglow at limb from SPICAV/VEX

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

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 CO2 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 therm...