Study of the atmospheric circulation of Venus using observational data taken by Venus orbiters

通过对金星快车和地面观测资料的分析，研究了大气环流的机制和大气成分的输送过程。这些数据是使用为日本金星仲裁者赤月（Akatsuki）开发的数据分析软件处理的，该卫星将于2015年进入金星轨道。分析揭示了行星尺度波的三维结构、高海拔重力波的耗散、上层雾霾层复杂的垂直分布、云高度的纬向和局地依赖关系以及云反照率的长期变化等大气的各个方面。通过数值模拟，将观测特征与模型结果进行比较，了解其机理。这些研究澄清了一些有待解决的问题，如中尺度过程的作用、控制云反照率的化学过程以及气候变化的机制。

The mechanism of the atmospheric circulation and the transport processes of atmospheric constituents were studied by analyzing observational data taken by Venus Express and ground-based observations. The data were processed using the data analysis softwares developed for the Japanese Venus arbiter Akatsuki, which will be inserted into a Venus orbit in 2015. The analysis revealed various aspects of the atmosphere, such as three-dimensional structures of planetary-scale waves, dissipation of gravity waves at high altitudes, complicated vertical distributions of the upper haze layer, latitudinal and local-time dependence of the cloud height, and long-term variations of the cloud albedo. Numerical simulations, and the observed features were compared with those model results to understand the mechanism. These studies clarified remaining issues to be solved, such as the role of meso-scale processes, chemical processes governing the cloud albedo, and the mechanism of climate variation.