The structure and microphysical properties of the Venus clouds: Venera 9, 10, and 11 data

Data processing and interpretation of the nephelometer measurements made in the Venus atmosphere aboard the Venera 9, 10 and 11 landers in the sunlit hemisphere near the equator are discussed. These results were used to obtain the aerosol distribution and its microphysical properties from 62 km to the surface. The main aerosol content is found in the altitude range between 62 km (where measurements began) and 48 km, the location of the cloud region. Three prominent layers labeled as I (between 62 and 57 km), II (between 57 and 51 km) and III (between 51 and 48 km), each with different particle characteristics are discovered within the clouds. The measured light-scattering patterns can be intrepreted as having been produced by particles with effective radii from 1 to 2 μm depending on height and indices of refractivity from 1.45 in layer I to 1.42 in layer III. These values do not contradict the idea that the droplets are made of sulfuric acid. In layers II and III the particle size distribution is at least bimodal rather than uni-modal. The index of refraction is found to decrease to 1.33 in the lower part of layer II, suggesting a predominant abundance of larger particles of different chemical origin, and chlorine compounds are assumed to be relevant to this effect. In the entire heightrange of the Venera 9–11 craft descents, the clouds are rather rarefied and are characterized by a mean volume scattering coefficient σ ∼ 2 × 10 −5 cm −1 that corresponds to the mean meteorological range of visibility of about 2 km. The average mass content of condensate is estimated to be equal to 4 × 10 −9 g/cm 3, and the total optical depth of clouds to τ ∼ 35. Near the bottom of layer III clouds are strongly variable. In the subcloud atmosphere a haze was observed between 48 and 32 km; that haze is mainly made of submicron particles, r eff ∼ 0.1 μm. The atmosphere below that is totally transparent but separate (sometimes possibly disappearing) layers may be present up to a height of 8 km above the surface. A model of this region with a very low particle density ( N ≲ 2–3 cm −3) strongly refractive large particles ( r eff ≳ 2.5 μm; 1.7 < n < 2.0) provided satisfactory agreement. The optical depth of aerosol in the atmosphere below the subcloud haze does not exceed 2.5.