Thermal Structure of the Venus Atmosphere in the Middle Cloud Layer
Abstract
Thermal structure measurements obtained by the two VEGA balloons show the Venus middle cloud layer to be generally adiabatic. Temperatures measured by the two balloons at locations roughly symmetric about the equator differed by about 6.5 kelvins at a given pressure. The VEGA-2 temperatures were about 2.5 kelvins cooler and those of VEGA-1 about 4 kelvins warmer than temperatures measured by the Pioneer Venus Large Probe at these levels. Data taken by the VEGA-2 lander as it passed through the middle cloud agreed with those of the VEGA-2 balloon. Study of individual frames of the balloon data suggests the presence of multiple discrete air masses that are internally adiabatic but lie on slightly different adiabats. These adiabats, for a given balloon, can differ in temperature by as much as 1 kelvin at a given pressure.
Additional Information
© 1986 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 23 October 1985; accepted 24 January 1986. Supported in part by National Aeronautics Space Administration Ames Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 49273
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20140905-092218457
- NASA Ames Research Center
- JPL
- Created
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2014-09-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences