Thermal structure of Venus upper atmosphere by a ground-to-thermosphere GCM: a preliminary study
Abstract
We present here preliminary results of the thermal structure of the upper atmosphere of Venus simulated by a ground-to thermosphere General Circulation Model (GCM). The GCM developed at the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (LMD) [1] has been recently improved and extended vertically from 100 to 150 km, with the inclusion of the physical processes which mostly contribute to the thermal balance in the mesosphere/thermosphere of Venus (i.e near IR heating by CO2, 15 μm thermal cooling, extreme UV heating, thermal conduction). We also focus on recent Venus Express and ground-based temperature measurements above 100 km, both at daytime and nighttime, and we interpret the observed main features with the help of model simulations. This ongoing study may indicate that both radiative and dynamical effects play a crucial role in determining the thermal structure of those upper layers of Venus atmosphere.
- Publication:
-
European Planetary Science Congress
- Pub Date:
- April 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014EPSC....9..352G