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- Title
Constraints on Venus Lightning From Akatsuki's First 3 Years in Orbit.
- Authors
Lorenz, Ralph D.; Imai, Masataka; Takahashi, Yukihiro; Sato, Mitsuteru; Yamazaki, Atsushi; Sato, Takao M.; Imamura, Takeshi; Satoh, Takehiko; Nakamura, Masato
- Abstract
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 ×106 km2‐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 km2‐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. Key Points: Nondetection in 42 observations by a dedicated flash detector on Akatsuki suggests a Venus lightning rate >~1,000 lower than EarthResult is compatible with zero flashes, with claimed ground‐based detections or with lightning that is highly clustered in space or timeNondetection is incompatible with the rate of whistler mode radio waves, suggesting that their origin is not associated with optical flashes
- Subjects
JAPAN; LIGHTNING; RADIO waves; ORBITS (Astronomy); ELECTRIC fields; MAGNETIC fields; SENDAI Earthquake, Japan, 2011
- Publication
Geophysical Research Letters, 2019, Vol 46, Issue 14, p7955
- ISSN
0094-8276
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2019GL083311