Ground-based near-infrared observations of water vapour in the Venus troposphere

TL;DR

This study uses ground-based near-infrared spectroscopy to measure water vapour in Venus's troposphere, comparing different absorption features and techniques, and finds a water vapour abundance consistent with recent spacecraft data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel modeling approach using the 1.18 μm water vapour absorption band and compares it with traditional peak-matching methods, improving measurement consistency.

Findings

Best fit water vapour abundance of 31 ppmv agrees with recent spacecraft results.

Spectral analysis over the 1.18 μm window yields less scatter than individual features.

No significant horizontal variation in water vapour detected across the night side of Venus.

Abstract

We present a study of water vapour in the Venus troposphere obtained by modelling specific water vapour absorption bands within the 1.18 \mu m window. We compare the results with the normal technique of obtaining the abundance by matching the peak of the 1.18 \mu m window. Ground-based infrared imaging spectroscopy of the night side of Venus was obtained with the Anglo-Australian Telescope and IRIS2 instrument with a spectral resolving power of R ~ 2400. The spectra have been fitted with modelled spectra simulated using the radiative transfer model VSTAR. We find a best fit abundance of 31 ppmv (-6 + 9 ppmv), which is in agreement with recent results by B\'ezard et al. 2011 using VEX/SPICAV (R ~ 1700) and contrary to prior results by B\'ezard et al. 2009 of 44 ppmv (+/-9 ppmv) using VEX/VIRTIS-M (R ~ 200) data analyses. Comparison studies are made between water vapour abundances determined from the peak of the 1.18 \mu m window and abundances determined from different water vapour absorption features within the near infrared window. We find that water vapour abundances determined over the peak of the 1.18 \mu m window results in plots with less scatter than those of the individual water vapour features and that analyses conducted over some individual water vapour features are more sensitive to variation in water vapour than those over the peak of the 1.18 \mu m window. No evidence for horizontal spatial variations across the night side of the disk are found within the limits of our data with the exception of a possible small decrease in water vapour from the equator to the north pole. We present spectral ratios that show water vapour absorption from within the lowest 4 km of the Venus atmosphere only, and discuss the possible existence of a decreasing water vapour concentration towards the surface.