Investigations of Upper Atmospheric Properties on Venus - Global Structure and Comparative Planetology

• Applicant: Dr. Manuela Sornig
• Subject Area: Atmospheric Science
• Term: from 2010 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 164195325

Knowledge about physical processes in planetary atmospheres is essential for their global understanding and the base for development of general circulation models (GCM) as well as for longterm climate predictions. To date, the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets are not yet fully understood. Especially the atmosphere of Venus returned into focus of investigations after publication of significant and sometimes contradictory results obtained recently by the spacecraft Venus Express and advanced ground-based measurements. The scientific goal of this proposal is to study the temporal and local structure of the dynamics and temperatures in the upper atmosphere of Venus focusing on three main activities: (1) Measurements of Doppler-wind velocities and temperatures with the infrared receiver THIS and the sub-millimeter telescope Nanten2 The observations will address various locations on the planet and different time scales and will be coordinated with wind and temperatures observations from other groups using different techniques. (2) Re-analyzing existing ground-based data retrieved by various techniques and working on a harmonization of the data analysis to make the results comparable Though space-based data are not our main perspective data from VEX will be included if available. (3) Drawing scientific conclusions with this comprehensive and unique dataset for the global behavior of the dynamics and temperature in Venus upper atmosphere This will be done in coordination with developers of global circulation models as well as working out a road map for necessary future investigations. Merging information on wind velocities from various ground-based techniques is a cost-efficient approach to significantly increase the scientific value of future and already existing data.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants