Gierasch et al. 1997

Gierasch, P.J., R.M. Goody, R.E. Young, D. Crisp, C. Edwards, R. Kahn, D. McCleese, D. Rider, A. Del Genio, R. Greeley, A. Hou, C.B. Leovy, and M. Newman, 1997: The general circulation of the Venus atmosphere: An assessment. In Venus II — Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment. J.W. Bucher, D.M. Hunten, and R.J. Phillips, Eds. University of Arizona Press, pp. 459-500.

The overall spin of "superrotation" of the Venus atmosphere is a striking phenomenon. In the 15 years since the NASA Pioneer Venus mission, a first-order understanding has been reached of the dynamics of the atmospheric region near and just above the Venus cloud tops. Tidal motions induced by solar heating produce a traveling disturbance whose vertical momentum transports are balanced by mean flow advection. The balance explains the shear of the mean flow above the clouds, and partially explains the strength of the mean flow at the cloud level where the strongest superrotation of the atmosphere occurs. But the fundamental cause of the global superrotation remains a mystery in spite of data from Earth-based observatories, from Pioneer Venus, from several Russian probes, from a Russian/French balloon experiment, and from the NASA Galileo flyby. The key missing knowledge is of momentum transfer processes in the deep atmosphere, between the surface and the cloud deck. Neither the forcing nor the drag and dissipation mechanisms are known. The existing data are reviewed here, and theoretical suggestions are listed. It is concluded that further measurements, in conjunction with numerical modeling, will be required to resolve this puzzling and challenging question. New data must improve by an order of magnitude on the accuracies achieved by the Pioneer Venus probes. Velocities in the deep atmosphere must be measured to better than 0.1 m/s, and relative temperatures to better than 0.1 K near the surface.

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Gierasch, P.J., Goody, R.M., Young, R.E., Crisp, D., Edwards, C., Kahn, R., McCleese, D., Rider, D., Del Genio, A., Greeley, R., Hou, A., Leovy, C.B., and Newman, M.: The general circulation of the Venus atmosphere: An assessment, in: Venus II — Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment, edited by Bucher, J.W., Hunten, D.M., and Phillips, R.J., 459-500, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1997.

Gierasch, P.J., R.M. Goody, R.E. Young, D. Crisp, C. Edwards, R. Kahn, D. McCleese, D. Rider, A. Del Genio, R. Greeley, A. Hou, C.B. Leovy, and M. Newman (1997), The general circulation of the Venus atmosphere: An assessment, in Venus II — Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment, edited by J.W. Bucher, D.M. Hunten, and R.J. Phillips, pp. 459-500, University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Gierasch, P.J., R.M. Goody, R.E. Young, D. Crisp, C. Edwards, R. Kahn, D. McCleese, D. Rider, A. Del Genio, R. Greeley, A. Hou, C.B. Leovy, and M. Newman, 1997: The general circulation of the Venus atmosphere: An assessment. In Venus II — Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment. J.W. Bucher, D.M. Hunten, and R.J. Phillips, Eds. University of Arizona Press, pp. 459-500.

Gierasch, P.J., et al. 1997, in Venus II — Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment, ed. Bucher, J.W., Hunten, D.M., & Phillips, R.J., 459 (Tucson: University of Arizona Press).

Gierasch PJ, Goody RM, Young RE, Crisp D, Edwards C, Kahn R, McCleese D, Rider D, Del Genio A, Greeley R, Hou A, Leovy CB, Newman M. The general circulation of the Venus atmosphere: An assessment. In: Bucher JW, Hunten DM, Phillips RJ, editors. Venus II — Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment, pp. 459-500. Tucson: University of Arizona Press; 1997.

P.J. Gierasch, R.M. Goody, R.E. Young, D. Crisp, C. Edwards, R. Kahn, D. McCleese, D. Rider, A. Del Genio, R. Greeley, A. Hou, C.B. Leovy, M. Newman, In Venus II — Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment, J.W. Bucher, D.M. Hunten, R.J. Phillips, Eds. (University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1997), pp. 459-500.