Sulfur Dioxide variability in the Venus atmosphere

Ann Carine Vandaele (1) , Arnaud Mahieux (1) , Valérie Wilquet (1) , Sarah Chamberlain (1) , Oleg Korablev (2) , Denis A. Belyaev (2) , Thérèse Encrenaz (3) , Larry Esposito (4) , Kandis Lea Jessup (5) , Franck Lefèvre (6) , Aurélien Stolzenbach (6) , Sanjay Limaye (7) , Emmanuel Marcq (6) , Frank Mills (8) , Christopher Parkinson (9) , Brad J. Sandor (8) , Colin Wilson (10)

1 BIRA-IASB - Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique
2 IKI - Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
3 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
4 LASP - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder]
5 SwRI - Southwest Research Institute [Boulder]
6 PLANETO - LATMOS
7 Department of Atmospheric Oceanic and Space Sciences [Madison]
8 SSI - Space Science Institute [Boulder]
9 AOSS - Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor]
10 Clarendon Laboratory [Oxford]

SO₂ is strongly related to the formation of the clouds and haze on Venus, which are composed of sulfuric acid combined to water complexes. Presence and variations of SO₂ could be the proof of a possible volcanism on Venus. The most intriguing are discrepancies among different observations, and the suspected long-term variations of the SO₂ abundance observed on the scales of several years, in particular during Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Venus Express missions. Similar trends are also observed in the super-rotation period and circulation patterns, which suggest that these aspects may be more strongly coupled than expected. An ISSI international team has been built in view of considering different aspects of sulfur chemistry on Venus. This includes comparison and validation of observations, from past missions, from Venus Express, from the Earth, and from Hubble Space Telescope, modeling of photochemistry and of other processes in which the sulfur family is involved. We will consider not only SO₂, but also SO and other constituents involved in its cycle. Reference density and vmr fields will be constructed from the detailed analysis and comparison of data. These will be included into the next generation of the VIRA references atmosphere.

Mots clés: Venus; Sulfur Dioxide; Atmosphere; Variability

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Ann Carine Vandaele, Arnaud Mahieux, Valérie Wilquet, Sarah Chamberlain, Oleg Korablev, et al.. Sulfur Dioxide variability in the Venus atmosphere. 26th IUGG, General Assembly 2015, Jun 2015, Prague, France. ⟨insu-01408921⟩