Horizontal structure of planetary-scale waves at the cloud top of Venus deduced from Galileo SSI images with an improved cloud-tracking technique

An improved cloud tracking method for deriving wind velocities from successive planetary images was developed. The new method incorporates into the traditional cross-correlation method an algorithm that corrects for erroneous cloud motion vectors by re-determining the most plausible correlation peak among all of the local maxima on the correlation surface by comparing each vector with its neighboring vectors. The newly developed method was applied to the Venusian violet images obtained by the Solid State Imaging system (SSI) onboard the Galileo spacecraft during its Venus flyby. Although the results may be biased by the choice of spatial scale of atmospheric features, the cloud tracking is the most practical mean of estimating the wind velocities with extensive spatial and temporal coverage. The two-dimensional distribution of the horizontal wind vector field over 5 days was obtained. It was found from these wind maps that the solar-fixed component in 1990 was similar to that in 1982 obtained by the Pioneer Venus orbiter. The deviation of the instantaneous zonal wind field from the solar-fixed component shows a distinct wavenumber-1 structure in the equatorial region. On the assumption that this structure is a manifestation of an equatorial Kelvin wave, the phase relationship between the zonal wind and the cloud brightness suggests a short photochemical lifetime of the violet absorber. The momentum deposition by this Kelvin wave, which is subject to radiative damping, would induce a westward mean-wind acceleration of ∼0.3 m s−1 per Earth day.