Variability of SO2 at Venus' cloud top during the July 2009 brightening event as seen by SPICAV-UV
Résumé
This paper applies the methods used by Marcq et al. [5] to derive observable SO2 column densities using SPICAV-UV in nadir mode on Venus Express to newer data immediately before and after the brightening event seen from Earth from 2009/07/19 to 2009/07/26 in the visible range. This event appears to have been followed by a global depletion in visible SO2 content lasting at last 6 Earth months. Various explanations are proposed to explain the observations, stressing the need for simultaneous measurements of other minor species in order to discriminate between competing hypotheses.