The underlying philosophy of Venus
Express investigations is to observe the same target with different
instruments at the same time. This provides a comprehensive,
versatile and complete view of the different phenomena taking place
on Venus (see
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Venus_Express/Penetrating_an_impenetrable_world).
CAAUL participates in the Venus Express
mission’s VIRTIS team and in the worldwide network of ground-based
support observers.
We characterize the atmospheric
dynamics of Venus by determining the magnitude of the winds and by
combining ground- and space-based observations and modeling
techniques to understand its governing mechanisms and their
couplings.
Our research focuses on the following
topics:
Measuring winds in the atmosphere
of Venus with:
cloud-tracking,
based on imaging data from the Venus Express VIRTIS instrument.
Doppler
velocimetry based on solar reflected spectra
Developing data-analysis
procedures for the Doppler velocimetry and cloud tracking
techniques.
Characterizing atmospheric motions
such as the southern polar vortex, gravity waves and solar tides in
the Venus atmosphere
Modeling the global atmospheric
circulation in the atmosphere of Venus to characterize composition
and dynamics.
Figure: The 'eyes' of Venus Express are extremely sensitive to a wide range of
electromagnetic wavelengths, from ultraviolet to infrared. They will be
able to dig down through the atmosphere by exploiting for the first time
the so-called 'spectroscopic windows', discovered in the late 1980s
thanks to ground observations. Credits:ESA
