Venus upper atmosphere structure

Abstract

Atmospheric densities of Venus were measured from the orbital decay of the Pioneer Venus from Dec. 9, 1978 to Aug. 7, 1979 near the 16 deg latitude between 140 and 190 km during the entire day. Comparative atmospheric densities on earth at 150 km are higher by a factor of 3.5 with only a 1% diurnal variation; an atmospheric composition, temperature, and density model based on the orbiter atmospheric drag (OAD) vertical structure is presented. The model shows that atomic oxygen is the major component in the Venus atmosphere above 145 km at night and above 160 km during the day with mixing ratios over 0.1 near 140 km; drag measurements indicate O concentrations from 1 x 10 to the 9th/cu cm in daytime to 3 x 10 to the 7th/cu cm at night. It is concluded that the neutral upper atmosphere of Venus is surprisingly insensitive to solar extreme UV variations and changes in the solar wind.