paper

Bimodal Distribution of Sulfuric Acid Aerosols in the Upper Haze of Venus

arXiv:1312.3750 · doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.10.013

Abstract

The upper haze (UH) of Venus is variable on the order of days and it is populated by two particle modes. We use a 1D microphysics and vertical transport model based on the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres to evaluate whether interaction of upwelled cloud particles and sulfuric acid particles nucleated in situ on meteoric dust are able to generate the two size modes and whether their observed variability are due to cloud top vertical transient winds. Nucleation of photochemically produced sulfuric acid onto polysulfur condensation nuclei generates mode 1 cloud droplets that then diffuse upwards into the UH. Droplets generated in the UH from nucleation of sulfuric acid onto meteoric dust coagulate with the upwelled cloud particles and cannot reproduce the observed bimodal size distribution. The mass transport enabled by cloud top transient winds are able to generate a bimodal size distribution in a time scale consistent with observations. Sedimentation and convection in the middle and lower clouds causes the formation of large mode 2 and mode 3 particles. Evaporation of these particles below the clouds creates a local sulfuric acid vapor maximum that causes upwelling of sulfuric acid back into the clouds. If the polysulfur condensation nuclei are small and their production rate is high, coagulation of small droplets onto larger droplets in the middle cloud may result in sulfuric acid "rain" below the clouds once every few Earth months. Reduction of the polysulfur condensation nuclei production rate destroys this oscillation and reduces the mode 1 particle abundance in the middle cloud by two orders of magnitude, though it better reproduces the sulfur-to-sulfuric-acid mass ratio in the cloud and haze droplets. In general we find satisfactory agreement between our results and observations, though improvements could be made by incorporating sulfur microphysics.

62 pages, 18 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Icarus

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