Venus coordinated campaign

This wiki is provided as a tool for sharing information and schedules for coordinated Venus observations in support of ESA/Venus Express, JAXA/Akatsuki and comparative climatology of the Earth and Venus. Last update Sep 28, 2012 - TW

What's New ?

Sep. 28, 2012 - Added virtual oral/poster EPSC, Madrid TP7 session area here, with instructions to upload posters/presentations.- C.W., T.W.

Sep. 25, 2012 - Added Venus Express Science Activity Plan ('SAP') and Science Planning poster - Description of 2013 planned specific campaigns. - C.W.

Sep. 15, 2012 - Telescope proposal deadlines note : Sep. 20, 2012 - Deadline for CFHT proposals (Doppler velocimetry with ESPaDOnS, Widemann et al.). Nov. 15, 2012 - Deadline for Kitt Peak proposals (March 2013 winds obs. w/possible coordination with SOIR, Sornig et al.).

Sep. 19, 2012 - Scheme for coordinated observations Oct. 26, 2013 until March 23, 2014 between ground-based observations and VEx/VeRa - In possible relation with dedicated Venus Express/VeRa polar dynamics campaign, on the dayside South polar region (85° S to 50° S), Nov. 25, 2013 until Dec. 31, 2013 ; and solar occultations SOIR observations in every VEx orbit from Dec. 11, 2013 until Feb. 9, 2014. A subsequent campaign of daily VeRa soundings is also planned June 30, 2014 to Sep. 14, 2014 - M.S., C.W., T.W.

Jul. 13, 2012 - Candace's scheduled observations at the 3.5m Apache Point Observatory, using ARCES high resolution echelle spectrograph - C.G., T.W.

Jul. 10, 2012 - Ground-based observations at the Nayoro/PIRKA telescope using NICE (NIR spectrograph, res. ~ 2400) and MSI (CCD imager, FWHM ~10 nm) - Y.T., T.W.

Jul. 6, 2012 - Schedule of 2012B ground-based Venus observations updated. Period July 2012-January 2013 encompasses Venus Express MTP 81-87 - T.W.

Jun. 5-6, 2012 - An international campaign to observe the aureole of refracted sunlight in the transiting Venus' atmosphere on June 5-6, 2012 has involved several orbiting spacecraft/instrumentation. There has been a worldwide coordination between NASA's Hubble Space Telescope ACS/WFC3 moon observations, ESA's Venus Express science operations, JAXA's Hinode Solar Observatory/SOT, AURA's NSO/IBIS visible high resolution spectro-imagery, NASA's Solar Dynamical Observatory/HMI and the ground-based Venus Twilight Experiment coronographs. - See e.g. Science News@Analysis, Vol. 336, 11 May 2012 : Venus's Rare Sun Crossing May Aid Search for Exoplanets - T.W.

Mar. 5-7, 2012 - Third Europlanet strategic workshop – 4th JSPS/PHC/Sakura meeting - Added link to presentations on the website. - T.W.

Circumstances of Venus coordinated campaigns

Scheduled ground-based observations

Future

Sep. 20, 2013 to Oct. 1, 2013 - Deadline for CFHT/IRTF proposals for observing period around 2014 inferior conjunction.
Coordination with SOIR and VeRa sounding campaigns.

Current

• Ground-based campaign in support of Venus-Express, 2012-2014

Venus coordinated campaign, Jul. 2012 - Jan. 2013 File:2012 Campaign.pdf

Prospective coordinated observations scheme, 2013-2016 File:Obs geo venus 2013-2016.pdf

• Circumstances of Venus observation from Earth, 2010-2014

File:Venus obs 2011-2014.pdf

Archive

• Ground-based campaign, Jul. 2010 - Jan. 2012

File:2010 Campaign 5.pdf

• Editable Google spreadsheet for detailed observing circumstances

2010 | Detailed observing circumstances (Editable Google spreadsheet)

VEx - ground-based coordination files

2013

• SAP/Science Activity Plan : File:VEX-SCIOPS-PL-035 1 0 SAP Ext4 part1 20120913.pdf

• Science planning poster: File:VEX-SCIOPS-PO-017 1 5 VEX 4th P1 2013 Overview 2012Sep11.pdf

Instead of broadly pursuing all science objectives every month as we have been doing in the past, we plan to focus on particular science objectives in campaigns lasting up to 4 months each. These campaigns are not exclusive, it just means that they will get top priority; other observations are still possible during these campaigns.

The specific campaigns planned are: - Focus on surface observation in at least 1 of 2 orbits during eclipse season #23 (Jan-Feb 2013) - SPICAV NO observation campaign in 1 of 2 orbits in Eclipse season #24 (May-June 2012) - SO2 observation campaign (SPICAV nadir, SOIR, and ground-based) in every orbit of eclipse season #25 (Sep-Oct 2013). - South Polar dynamics campaign: VMC & VIRTIS cloud tracking, and VeRa HGA2 *egress* soundings in every orbit from orbit 2680-2760 (Nov - Dec 2013, note date change for this campaign). - SOIR mesospheric sounding campaign in every orbit of eclipse season #26 (Dec 2013 - Feb 2014). This spans inferior conjunction.

In particular, the SO2 observation campaign is a great opportunity for ground-based observation. VEx will obtain vertical profiles of mesospheric SO2 using SOIR as well as dayside nadir observations using SPICAV-UV to map the spatial and temporal distribution of SO2 and UV absorber. This will happen near maximum elongation of Venus from the Sun, permitting ground-based observations including IRTF/TEXES, JCMT, or even HST observations to elucidate the sulphur cycle.

See above documents for dates of specific campaigns.

2012

• VEx science operations, Jan. 2012 - April 2013, VSOC team :

File:VEX-SCIOPS-PO-016 1 F VEX 3rd P3 Extended Overview 2011Nov03.pdf

• SOIR Files:

In order to make it easier for all observers to have access to the observations date & time performed by SOIR on VEX, the SOIR team has built a web tool which allows the user to find past and near-future observations of SOIR corresponding to several search criteria. This tool can be accessed freely with no password needed through our web site at the following address : [1]

SOIR solar occultation opportunities in the period 1/1/2012-31/12/2012 are described in the following file: File:SOIR MTP76-MTP86.xls

For further details, contact the SOIR Principal Investigator: Ann-Carine Vandaele <A-C.Vandaele@aeronomie.be>

Archive

• Venus observing by NASA-ESA/Hubble Space Telescope : File:HST-soir overlap.txt

VEx science operations, Jul. 2010 - Jan. 2012

• VEx science operations, Jul. 2010 - Jan. 2012, VSOC team :

File:VEX-SCIOPS-PO-014 1 F VEX 3.pdf

• VeRa Files:

File:VeRa OCC Seasons 1-9.xls

This file describes all VeRa radio occultations carried out in the period 1/7/2006 - 2/6/2010.

For further information contact the VeRa team: Martin Paetzold <Martin.Paetzold@uni-koeln.de>, Bernd Hauesler <Bernd.Haeusler@unibw.de>, and Silvia Tellmann <tellmann@geo.uni-koeln.de>

File:VeRa Occultations seasons 10-13.txt

This file describes all opportunities for Radio occultations in occultation seasons in January 2011 - November 2012. File kindly provided by Stefan Remus, ESAC. Note that not all radio occultation opportunities are exploited.

For further information contact the VeRa team: Martin Paetzold <Martin.Paetzold@uni-koeln.de>, Bernd Hauesler <Bernd.Haeusler@unibw.de>, and Silvia Tellmann <tellmann@geo.uni-koeln.de>.

Coordination meetings / meeting sessions

Past and future workshops / Meeting sessions

• July 14-22, 2012 COSPAR session on Venus Exploration (M. Nakamura and H. Svedhem conveners)
• Science Conference on Comparative Climatology of the Terrestrial Planets, Boulder, June 25-­28, 2012
• Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) Meeting, 20-25 May, 2012, Makuhari Messe, Japan.
• Third Europlanet strategic workshop – 4th JSPS/PHC/Sakura meeting - France, Observatoire de Paris and Institut d'Astrophysique, March 5-7, 2012.
• January 25–26, 2012 - Meeting on Earth-based Balloon Platform for Planetary Observations, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
• Third JSPS/PHC Sakura meeting, ISAS, Sagamihara Campus, November 21-22, 2011.

Meeting agenda: File:3rdmeeting.pdf

Meeting minutes/report: File:3rdSakuraReport.pdf

• VEx Science Working Team Meeting, 16-18 November 2011, Graz, Austria
• Atmospheric waves workshop, 9-10 November 2011, ESTEC, Noordwijk, NL
• VEXAG International Venus Workshop, Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar­Hazy Center, Dulles Airport, Washington DC 30 August - 1 September 2011
• Second JSPS/PHC Sakura meeting, University of Tokyo, Space science building, December 3, 2010.
• 2010 VEXAG International Workshop: Venus, Our Closest Earth-like Planet, Madison (USA), 30 August - 2 September 2010
• « After-Aussois Venus 2010 » workshop: 1st strategic workshop on Coordinated ground-based measurements and modeling of the Venus atmosphere, Paris, June 28-29, 2010
• Venus Conference, Aussois (France), 20-26 June 2010
• First JSPS/PHC Sakura meeting, ISAS, Sagamihara Campus, February 23-25, 2010.

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EPSC Madrid Sep 2012 - Venus atmosphere virtual poster/oral session

Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets - Oral Program (Friday, 28 Sep. 2012)

• J. Oschlisniok, B. Häusler, M. Pätzold, S. Tellmann, M. K. Bird, G. L. Tyler, T . Andert, S. Remus, 3.6 cm radio signal attenuation in Venus' lower and middle atmosphere observed by the Radio Science experiment VeRa onboard Venus Express.

Oschlisniok et al.
File:Oschlisniok et al EPSC 2012 478.pdf

Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets - Poster Program (Thursday, 27 Sep. 2012)

• J. Peralta, D. Luz, D.L. Berry, C.C.C. Tsang, A. Migliorini, G. Piccioni, P. Drossart, Characterization of Atmospheric Waves at the upper clouds in the Polar Region of Venus.
• T. Stangier, M. Sornig, G. Sonnabend, M. Herrmann, S. Tellmann, T. Kostiuk, T. Livengood, Observations of Venus Night-Side by CO_2 Absorption Features.
• A. Longobardo, E. Palomba, D. Grassi, A. Migliorini, G. Piccioni, P. Drossart, Nocturnal variations of the Venus upper cloud scale height.
• C.F. Wilson, M. Perez-Ayucar, A.C. Vandaele, V. Wilquet, A. Mahieux, W.J. Markiewicz, J.-L. Bertaux, G. Piccioni, Venus Express observations during the 2012 Venus transit.

File:PeraltaEPSC.jpg Peralta et al. 2012 Characterization of Atmospheric Waves at the upper clouds in the Polar Region of Venus. File:Poster EPSC 2012 JPeralta A4.pdf File:Longobardo.jpg Peralta et al. File:Poster EPSC 2012 JPeralta A4.pdf

File:StangierEPSC.jpg Stangier et al. 2012 Solar Tides in the Winds of the Southern Polar Region of Venus using VIRTIS-M/VEx Images File:EPSC 2012 Stangier poster.pdf

Sonnabend et al. 2011 Observations of Venus Night-Side by CO_2 Absorption Features. File:Poster epsc2012 Longobardo.pdf

Stangier et al. 2011 Investigation of CO2 Absorption Features on Venus File:Stangier-Nantes.pdf EPSC/DPS Nantes Oct. 2011 - Venus atmosphere virtual poster session Machado et al. 2011, Characterization of Venus' cloud top dynamics using ground-based Doppler spectroscopy Peralta et al. 2011, Solar Tides in the Winds of the Southern Polar Region of Venus using VIRTIS-M/VEx Images Sonnabend et al. 2011, Thermospheric/Mesospheric Temperatures on Venus : Comparison between Ground-based High-Resolution Spectroscopy of CO2 and other Techniques Stangier et al. 2011, Investigation of CO2 Absorption Features on Venus Machado et al. 2011 Characterization of Venus' cloud top dynamics using ground-based Doppler spectroscopy File:Machado-Nantes.pdf Peralta et al. 2011 Solar Tides in the Winds of the Southern Polar Region of Venus using VIRTIS-M/VEx Images File:Peralta-Nantes.pdf Sonnabend et al. 2011 Thermospheric/Mesospheric Temperatures on Venus : Comparison between Ground-based High-Resolution Spectroscopy of CO2 and other Techniques File:Sonnabend-Nantes.pdf Stangier et al. 2011 Investigation of CO2 Absorption Features on Venus File:Stangier-Nantes.pdf File:Machado-Nantes.pdf File:Peralta-Nantes.pdf File:Sonnabend-Nantes.pdf File:Stangier-Nantes.pdf Detailed instrumental characteristics Ground-based facilities Clickable map of observatory sites and telescope facilities, with a link to their instruments. Venus Coordinated Campaign, Telescopes sites (editable Google map) <googlemap version="0.9" lat="5.266008" lon="81.5625" type="terrain" zoom="2" controls="large"> http://www.lesia.obspm.fr/venus-atm/2010venus.kml </googlemap> Sunspot Astronomy & Visitor Center APO 3.5-m ARCES Observatorio SOAR Soar Telescope Observatoire du Pic du Midi de Bigorre Bernard-Lyot 2-m Osservatorio Astronomico della Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta South African Astronomical Observatory Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) Hanle Observatory HCT National Central University Lulin Observatory LOT Cassegrain SLT R-C 4 TAOS robotic Naroyo Observatory Naroyo 1.6-m telescope NICE IR camera Siding Spring Observatory Anglo-Australian 3.9-m Mount John University Observatory 1 m McLellan MOA 1.8-m 0.6-m Optical Craftsmen 0.6-m Boller & Chivens Mauna Kea Observatory IRTF Keck 10-m CFHT 3.6-m SUBARU JCMT Haleakala Observatory AEOS THIS Tuneable Heterodyne Infrared Spectrometer used at the: - McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona - IRTF on Mauna Kea Hawaii HIPWAC Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Wind And Composition at IRTF - HIPWAC team at IRTF Venus Express instruments Instrumentation of Venus Express, Credit: ESA SPICAV/SOIR : Ultraviolet and Infrared Atmospheric Spectrometer Atmospheric spectrometry by star or Sun occultation UV 0.11 - 0.3 µm R ~ 300 IR 0.7 - 1.7 µm R ~ 1300 SOIR 2.3 - 4.2 µm R ~ 15000 VeRa : Venus Radio Science Experiment Radio sounding of atmosphere VIRTIS : Ultraviolet/Visible/Near-Infrared mapping spectrometer Spectrographic mapping of atmosphere and surface - VIRTIS-M mapping spectrometer Vis 0.25 - 1.0 µm R ~ 100 - 200 ( IR 1 - 5 µm R ~ 100 - 200 ) - VIRTIS-H High-res 2 - 5 µm R ~ 1000 - 2000 VMC : Venus Monitoring Camera Ultraviolet and visible imaging Filters : UV 0.365 µm Vis 0.513 µm Near - IR1 0.965 µm Near - IR2 1.010 µm More about the Venus Express Instruments Akatsuki instruments Instrumentation of Akatsuki, Credit: JAXA Visit the Akatsuki Website Akatsuki successfully launched at 6:58:22 a.m. on May 21 (Japan Standard Time) ! More about VCO/Akatsuki mission IR1 : 1-micron Camera Low stratus, vapor, active volcanism 1.01 µm cloud (day-night), surface (nightside) IR2 : 2-micron Camera Low stratus, trace gasses, zodiacal light 1.73, 2.26, 2.32 (near-IR) 2.02 (CO2), 1.65 µm UVI : Ultraviolet Imager Cloud-top ultraviolet absorber, SO2 283, 365 nm SO2 - UV absorber (dayside) LIR : Longwave Infrared Camera Cloud-top temperature distribution 10 µm cloud top (day/nightside) LAC : Lightning and Airglow Camera Lightening flash, high-stratus airglow emission Filters 777, 557, 553, 558, 630 nm O2/O airglow (night) lightning (night) More about the Akatsuki Instruments Transit of Venus coordinated campaign, June 5-6, 2012 Planning Venus Twilight / coronagraph experiment : Science background - collaborations - Tutorials for registered users https://venustex.oca.eu/foswiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome Contact times for the transit can be found at: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/venus/city12-2.html Annual mean cloud cover for June : http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipseWeather.html Science references Ehrenreich, D., Vidal-Madjar, A., Widemann, T., Gronoff, G., Tanga, P., Barthélemy, M., Lilensten, J., Lecavelier des Etangs, A. and Arnold, L. 2011, Transmission spectrum of Venus as a transiting exoplanet, accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Tanga, P., Widemann, T., Sicardy, B., Pasachoff, J., Arnaud, J., Comolli, L., Rondi, A., Rondi, S., Suetterlin, P. 2011, Solar light refraction by the Venus mesosphere during the 2004 transit, accepted in Icarus. Pasachoff, J.M., G. Schneider, and T. Widemann 2011, High-Resolution Satellite Imaging of the 2004 Transit of Venus and Asymmetries In the Cytherean Atmosphere, Astronomical Journal, 141, 112. Hedelt, P., R. Alonso, T. Brown, M. Collados Vera, H. Rauer, H. Schleicher, W. Schmidt, F. Schreier, and R. Titz 2011, Venus transit 2004 : Illustrating the capability of exoplanet transmission spectroscopy, A&A 533, A136. Ambastha, A., Ravindra, B. and Gosain, S. 2006, H-alpha observations of 8 june, 2004 Venus transit, Solar Phys. 233:171-184. De, S.S., De, B.K., Adhikari, S.K., Sarkar, B.K., Sarkar, S.K., Guha, A., Mandal, P.K., Mandal, S.K., Sardar, H.P. and Ray, M. 2006, The effect of recent Venus transit on Earth's atmosphere, Ann. Geophys. Vol. 49, N.6, Dec. 2006. C.F. Wilson, M. Perez-Ayucar, A.C. Vandaele, V. Wilquet, A. Mahieux, W.J. Markiewicz, J.-L. Bertaux and G. Piccioni, "Venus Express observations during the 2012 Venus transit". Presented at EPSC, Madrid, 27 Sep 2012. :File:WILSON EPSC2012 POSTER v1.pdf Other links Venus Coordinated Campaign logo, Credit: Camille Liegeois VEXAG Venus Exploration and Analysis Group The Venus Exploration Analysis Group, established in 2005, is NASA's community-based forum designed to provide scientific input and technology development plans for planning and prioritizing the exploration of Venus over the next several decades Coordinated Ground-based Venus Observation Campaign (Between 23 May and 9 June 2007 - ESA web site) Venus Ground-Based image Active Archive The Venus ground-based image Active Archive (VAA) allows you to upload and retrieve ground-based Venus observations obtained in infrared, visual or ultraviolet light. The aim of this archive is to complement the Venus Express (VEX) spacecraft observations of Venus with worldwide ground-based images to allow for continuous monitoring of the planet.