Recovery and Validation of Venus Neutral Atmospheric Profiles from Pioneer Venus Orbiter Radio Occultation Observations

Abstract

Abstract The Pioneer Venus Orbiter radio occultation experiment acquired vertical profiles of neutral atmospheric temperature in the ionosphere of Venus. These profiles were not readily accessible to researchers. Here we report the recovery and validation of a set of neutral atmospheric temperature profiles from Pioneer Venus Orbiter. More than 40 profiles spanning many latitudes and local solar times were deemed acceptable for scientific analysis. These temperature profiles are consistent with temperature profiles measured by the four Pioneer Venus entry probes. The profiles are publicly available and ready for use in scientific investigations of the neutral atmosphere of Venus and related topics.