Precipitation on Venus: Properties and Possibilities of Detection

Creators: Cimino, J. B.; Elachi, C.

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Abstract

Mariner 10 occultation measurements have provided evidence of a dense cloud deck in the lower atmosphere of Venus with a peak liquid content of about 1 g m^−3. This, in conjunction with other measurements-such as turbulence, updrafts and the presence of aerosol—seem to favor the possibility of precipitation on Venus. Modeling of droplet growth in the Venusian environment shows that precipitation size drops can be formed over periods of only a few hours, similar to growth rates on Earth. The precipitation region, if it exists, would extend from the cloud base at about 50 km to the 38 km level where most of the droplets will have evaporated. Precipitation regions can be detected with a variety of remote sensing radar and radio techniques.

Additional Information

© 1979 American Meteorological Society. Manuscript received October 3, 1978, in final form February 20, 1979. The authors would like to thank Professors A. Ingersoll and D. Muhleman from Caltech and Dr. R. Goodstein from JPL as well as our reviewers for many enlightening discussions. Also, we would like to thank P.D. Baker for the help in editing and typing this manuscript. This paper is JPL Atmospheres Publ. No. 979-7, and the results of one phase of research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under Contract NAS7-100, sponsored by the The Planetary Atmospheres Program Office, Office of Space Sciences, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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