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Constraints on Venus Lightning From Akatsuki's First 3 Years in Orbit
Author(s) -
Lorenz Ralph D.,
Imai Masataka,
Takahashi Yukihiro,
Sato Mitsuteru,
Yamazaki Atsushi,
Sato Takao M.,
Imamura Takeshi,
Satoh Takehiko,
Nakamura Masato
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl083311
Subject(s) - venus , lightning (connector) , airglow , environmental science , orbiter , flash (photography) , orbit (dynamics) , atmosphere of venus , astrobiology , altitude (triangle) , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , astronomy , physics , aerospace engineering , optics , power (physics) , engineering , quantum mechanics , geometry , mathematics
Observations by the Lightning and Airglow Camera on Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter “Akatsuki” over its first 3 years in orbit are reported. Forty‐two opportunities during low‐altitude nightside passes have accumulated 16.8 hr of observation, yielding an area‐time product of 81.6 ×10 6 km 2 ‐hr, by far the largest at Venus itself to date. No flashes attributable to lightning have been detected, whereas similar observations at Earth would yield thousands of detections. A low flash rate of ~0.005 per million km 2 ‐hr indicated in ground‐based observations is not excluded (but would require that there are not many more smaller flashes). The allowable flash rate is incompatible with the much higher rates of bursts recorded by magnetic and electric field sensors at Venus, indicating that electrical discharges at Venus lack optical emission or that the electromagnetic detections have a nonlightning explanation or both.