Venus mesosphere and thermosphere: II. Global circulation, temperature, and density variations

Recent Pioneer Venus observations have prompted a return to comprehensive hydrodynamical modeling of the thermosphere of Venus. Our approach has been to reexamine the circulation and structure of the thermosphere using the framework of the R. E. Dickinson an E. C. Ridley (1977, Icarus 30, 163–178) , symmetric two-dimensional model. Sensitivity tests were conducted to see how large-scale winds, eddy diffusion and conduction, and strong 15-μm cooling affect day-night contrasts of densities and temperatures. The calculated densities and temperatures are compared to symmetric empirical model fields constructed from the Pioneer Venus data base. We find that the observed day-to-night variation of composition and temperatures can be derived largely by a wave-drag parameterization that gives a circulation system weaker than predicted prior to Pioneer Venus. The calculated mesospheric winds are consistent with Earth-based observations near 115 km. Our studies also suggest that eddy diffusion is only a minor contributor to the maintenance of observed day and nightside densities, and that eddy coefficients are smaller than values used by previous one-dimensional composition models. The mixing that occurs in the Venus thermosphere results from small-scale and large-scale motions. Strong CO 2 15-μm cooling buffers solar perturbation such that the response by the general circulation to solar cycle variation is relatively weak.