The first assimilation of Akatsuki single-layer winds and its validation with Venusian atmospheric waves excited by solar heating

Abstract

Abstract The planetary missions including the Venus Climate Orbiter ‘Akatsuki’ provide new information on various atmospheric phenomena. Nevertheless, it is difficult to elucidate their three-dimensional structures globally and continuously only from observations because satellite observations are considerably limited in time and space. We constructed the first ‘objective analysis’ of Venus’ atmosphere by assimilating cloud-top horizontal winds on the dayside from the equator to mid-latitudes, which is frequently obtained from Akatsuki's Ultraviolet Imager (UVI). The three-dimensional structures of thermal tides, found recently to play a crucial role in maintaining the super rotation, are greatly improved by the data assimilation. This result is confirmed by comparison with Akatsuki's temperature observations. The momentum transport caused by the thermal tides and other disturbances are also modified by the wind assimilation and agrees well with those estimated from the UVI observations. The assimilated dataset is reliable and will be open to the public along with the Akatsuki observations for further investigation of Venus’ atmospheric phenomena.