Orateur
Description
During the last 15 years, our knowledge about the atmosphere of Venus has
expanded greatly, mainly due to the contribution of two dedicated
orbiters: Venus Express from ESA (2006-2014) and Akatsuki from JAXA
(2015-present). Both missions included a comprehensive payload which
enabled them to measure key parameters about the atmosphere from the
surface to the topmost layers. Among their discoveries are a much greater
than anticipated spatial and temporal variability, partly due to
unsuspected coupling between the surface and the upper atmospheric layers
at cloud top level. They also highlighted gaps in our knowledge, some of
them long standing like the nature of the unknown UV absorber.
Undoubtedly, all these results contributed to the renewed interest for
the planet Venus that was confirmed by the selection, in 2021, of three
major space exploration missions targeting the planet in the 2030s
(DAVINCI and VERITAS from NASA, EnVision from ESA). This review talk will
summarize our current knowledge about the atmosphere of Venus including
some key outstanding questions. It will then proceed in a review of the
planned atmospheric investigations from the above mentioned selected
missions, as well as others.
