Science Case 2.4 - Venus Super-rotation: Problem Description

The Venus atmosphere at the cloud top level (65km) rotates 60 times faster than the solid part. Several space missions or ground-based observations are producing data from the Venus atmosphere which have been analysed by scientists in order to reveal air, dust and clouds dynamics. The history of the Venusian atmosphere modelling is comparable to that of observations. The planetary community would benefit from the possibility to openly compare observational data products (i.e. different atmospheric variables derived from the observations) to predictions of climate models. We will develop a tool for the purpose of comparing observational data and simulated data from (for example):

• SPICAV observations;
• VMC observations;
• VIRTIS observations;
• GCM simulations (LMD).

This preliminary list will be expanded in the future according to the interests of the joining teams.