Oxygen Chemistry and Airglow in Venus' Atmosphere

Mills, Franklin P.; Garcia Munoz, A.; Yung, Y. L.; Allen, M.; Piccioni, G.; Drossart, P.
Bibliographical reference

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #48.02

Advertised on:
9
2009
Number of authors
6
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Airglow in a planetary atmosphere is diagnostic of the combined effects of transport, both vertical and horizontal, and chemistry. Airglow emission on the night side in the OH(3-2, 2-1, 2-0, and 1-0), O2(c-X and a-X), and NO(C-A) bands has been reported in the past two years based on observations by VIRTIS on Venus Express [1,2,3]. Previous observations had also identified airglow emission in the O2(a-X) band on the day side [4]. Vertical profiles from limb observations indicate the OH and O2 nightglow emissions are typically most intense at 95-100 km altitude [1,5] while the NO nightglow emission is most intense at about 110 km altitude [2]. All of these airglow emissions are directly or indirectly connected to the atomic oxygen abundance at these altitudes and vertical profiles of the O2(a-X) nightglow emission as observed by VIRTIS on Venus Express have been used to infer the atomic oxygen profile [6]. The expected connections among these day and night side airglow emissions based on photochemical modelling will be discussed along with their implications for oxygen chemistry in the 90-110 km altitude range in Venus' atmosphere. This work was partially supported by the Australian Research Council. [1] Piccioni et al, A&A 483, L29, 2008 [2] García Muñoz et al, PNAS 106, 985, 2009 [3] García Muñoz et al, JGR, in revision, 2009 [4] Connes et al, ApJ 233, L29, 1979 [5] Piccioni et al, JGR 114, E00B38, 2009 [6] Gérard et al, GRL 35, L02207, 2008