Whistler Wave Propagation Through the Ionosphere of Venus. Issue 11 (7th November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pérez‐Invernón, F. J.; Lehtinen, N. G.; Gordillo‐Vázquez, F. J.; Luque, A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 122:Issue 11(2017)
• Page Start: 11, 633
• Page End: 11, 644
• Publication Date: 2017-11-07
• Subjects: whistler wave -- lightning -- Venus -- full‐wave method -- VLF -- planetary atmospheres; Magnetospheric physics -- Periodicals; Space environment -- Periodicals; Cosmic physics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Atmospheres -- Periodicals; Heliosphere (Astrophysics) -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 523.01
• DOI: 10.1002/2017JA024504
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-9380

Abstract

Abstract: We investigate the attenuation of whistler waves generated by hypotetical Venusian lightning occurring at the altitude of the cloud layer under different ionospheric conditions. We use the Stanford full‐wave method for stratified media of Lehtinen and Inan (2008) to model wave propagation through the ionosphere of Venus. This method calculates the electromagnetic field created by an arbitrary source in a plane‐stratified medium (i.e., uniform in the horizontal direction). We see that the existence of holes in electronic densities and the magnetic field configuration caused by solar wind play an important role in the propagation of electromagnetic waves through the Venusian ionosphere. Plain Language Summary: The existence of lightning on Venus remains controversial. In 1978, the Soviet Venera 11 and 12 detected bursts of very low‐frequency (VLF) pulses in their descent through the Venus atmosphere. Also in 1978, the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) detected VLF waves in several flybys over the Venus ionosphere, similar to whistler waves detected by spacecraft above electrical storms on Earth. However, other missions, such as Galileo and Cassini, did not reproduce these measurements. The Venus Express (VEX) probe, designed to study electromagnetic waves with a fluxgate magnetometer, was launched in 2005. This mission detected signals at altitudes around 200 km in the range of frequencies between 0 Hz and 64 Hz, confirming the previous results of PVO. The lack of unambiguous optical signals from possible electrical lightning discharges on Venus keeps the origin of these PVO and VEX recorded whistler waves unclear. In this paper, we apply a full‐wave method (Stanford FWM) for stratified media in order to study the propagation of waves through the Venusian atmosphere. We investigate the influence of wave refraction, atmospheric conditions, lightning characteristics, and global lightning rate on the signals that can reach orbital altitudes and calculate the transfer function of the Venusian ionosphere. Key Points: Whistler wave propagation through the ionospheric plasma on Venus Electromagnetic signals from possible Venusian lightning Full‐wave method of wave propagation applied to the Venusian ionosphere