The Galileo Probe Atmosphere Structure instrument

The Galileo Probe Atmosphere Structure Instrument will make in-situ measurements of the temperature and pressure profiles of the atmosphere of Jupiter, starting at about 10^-10 bar level, when the Probe enters the upper atmosphere at a velocity of 48 km s^-1, and continuing through its parachute descent to the 16 bar level. The data should make possible a number of inferences relative to atmospheric and cloud physical processes, cloud location and internal state, and dynamics of the atmosphere. For example, atmospheric stability should be defined, from which the convective or stratified nature of the atmosphere at levels surveyed should be determined and characterized, as well as the presence of turbulence and/or gravity waves. Because this is a rare opportunity, sensors have been selected and evaluated with great care, making use of prior experience at Mars and Venus, but with an eye to special problems which could arise in the Jupiter environment. The temperature sensors are similar to those used on Pioneer Venus; pressure sensors are similar to those used in the Atmosphere Structure Experiment during descent of the Viking Landers (and by the Meteorology Experiment after landing on the surface); the accelerometers are a miniaturized version of the Viking accelerometers. The microprocessor controlled experiment electronics serve multiple functions, including the sequencing of experiment operation in three modes and performing some on-board data processing and data compression.     

7. Dynamics,winds, circulation and turbulence in the atmosphere of venus

With the possible exception of the lowest one or two scale heights, the dominant mode of circulation of Venus' atmosphere is a rapid, zonal, retrograde motion. Global albedo variations in the ultraviolet may reflect planetary scale waves propagating relative to the zonal winds. Other special phenomena such as cellular convection in the subsolar region and internal gravity waves generated in the interaction of the zonal circulation with the subsolar disturbance may also be revealed in ultraviolet imagery of the atmosphere. We discuss the contributions of experiments on the Orbiter and Entry Probes of Pioneer Venus toward unravelling the mystery of the planet's global circulation and the role played by waves, instabilities and convection therein.     

Further information on structure of the atmosphere of Venus derived from the VEGA Venus balloon and Lander mission

Continued analysis of the pressure and temperature data returned by the two Vega mission balloons has revealed an apparently significant difference in mean atmospheric static stability between the two data sets. Furthermore, the stability is time dependent within each data set, as reported earlier. The 6.5K temperature contrast between the two balloons remains, and appears to have a counterpart in the contrast between two of the Pioneer Venus probes at these levels, which has been attributed to planetary scale waves. Comparisons of the Vega 2 Lander data with those of the Pioneer Venus Large Probe shows relatively close agreement in the state properties and in the atmospheric static stability profiles as well.     

Retrieval of a wind profile from the Galileo Probe telemetry signal

Ultrastable oscillators onboard the Galileo Probe and Orbiter will permit very accurate determinations of the frequency of the Probe's telemetry signal as the Probe descends from a pressure level of several hundred mb to a level of about 20 bars. Analysis of the time-varying frequency can provide, in principle, a unique and important definition of the vertical profile of the zonal wind speed in the Jovian atmosphere. In this paper, we develop a protocol for retrieving the zonal wind profile from the Doppler shift of the measured frequency; assess the impact of a wide range of error sources on the accuracy of the retrieved wind profile; and perform a number of simulations to illustrate our technique and to assess the likely accuracy of the retrieval.Because of unavoidably large uncertainties in the absolute frequencies of the oscillators, we use time-differenced frequencies in our analysis. Nevertheless, it is possible to recover absolute wind speeds as well as wind shears, since the Orbiter/Probe geometry changes significantly during the Probe relay link. We begin with the full relativistic Doppler shift equation. Through the use of power series expansions and a basis function representation of the wind profiles, we reduce the basic equation to a set of linear equations that can be solved with standard linear least-squares techniques.There are a very large number of instrumental and environmental factors that can introduce errors into the measured signal or to the recovery of zonal winds from the data. We provide estimates of the magnitudes of all these error sources and consider the degree to which they may be reduced by a posteriori information as well as the results of calibration tests. The most important error source is the a posteriori uncertainty in the Probe's entry longitude. The accuracy of the retrieved winds is also limited by errors in the Probe's descent velocity, as obtained from atmospheric parameters measured by several Probe experiments, and in the a posteriori knowledge of secular drifts in the oscillators' frequencies during the relay link, due, for example, to aging and radiation damage.Our simulations indicate that zonal winds may be retrieved from the Doppler data to an accuracy of several m s^-1. Therefore, it may be possible to discriminate among alternative models for the basic drive of the zonal winds, since they differ significantly in the implied zonal wind profile.     

Models of the structure of the atmosphere of Venus from the surface to 100 kilometers altitude

From a critical comparison and synthesis of data from the four Pioneer Venus Probes, the Pioneer Venus Orbiter, and the Venera 10, 12, and 13 landers, models of the lower and middle atmosphere of Venus are derived. The models are consistent with the data sets within the measurement uncertainties and established variability of the atmosphere. The models represent the observed variations of state properties with latitude, and preserve the observed static stability. The rationale and the approach used to derive the models are discussed, and the remaining uncertainties are estimated.     

8. The thermal balance of the atmosphere of venus

Current knowledge of the temperature structure of the atmosphere of Venus is briefly summarized. The principal features to be explained are the high surface temperature, the small horizontal temperature contrasts near the cloud tops in the presence of strong apparent motions, and the low value of the exospheric temperature. In order to understand the role of radiative and dynamical processes in maintaining the thermal balance of the atmosphere, a great deal of additional data on the global temperature structure, solar and thermal radiation fields, structure and optical properties of the clouds, and circulation of the atmosphere are needed. The ability of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe Missions to provide these data is indicated.     

The Characterisation of Titan's Atmospheric Physical Properties by the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (Hasi)

The Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI) is a multi-sensor package which has been designed to measure the physical quantities characterising the atmosphere of Titan during the Huygens probe descent on Titan and at the surface. HASI sensors are devoted to the study of Titan's atmospheric structure and electric properties, and to provide information on its surface, whether solid or liquid. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Composition and structure of the atmosphere of Venus

Although in recent years much has been learned about the atmospheric composition and structure of Venus, there are many key questions which remain unanswered. The Pioneer Venus set of experiments is designed to provide information both individually and collectively to help understand and explain first of all the present state of the atmosphere (the composition and distribution in both the lower and upper parts, the state property profiles, the cloud compositions, the role of phase in the thermal structure, the planet's surface and interior composition, the high surface temperature, the stability of CO₂, the ionosphere — its chemistry and thermal structure, the existence of superrotation, the response of the upper atmosphere to changes in solar EUV and the solar wind) and secondly the origin and evolution of the atmosphere. This paper discusses these questions and the degree to which the Pioneer Venus instruments will respond to them.