Venus Express 2014 Radio Occultation Atmospheric Profiles Dataset (Gramigna et al., 2023)

This dataset contains atmospheric profiles derived from radio occultation experiments performed with the Venus Express (VEX) spacecraft during the year 2014.

The profiles were obtained from X-band Doppler measurements acquired by NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) ground stations during ingress and egress occultations. The observed Doppler frequency residuals were processed to retrieve bending angle as a function of impact parameter. These were inverted using an Abel transform to obtain refractive index profiles as a function of planetary radius.

Assuming a CO₂-dominated neutral atmosphere, number density profiles were derived using a refractivity coefficient k = 1.7953 × 10⁻²⁹ m³ (Tellmann et al., 2009). Pressure and temperature profiles were then computed by integrating the hydrostatic equilibrium equation and applying the ideal gas law.

Each file corresponds to a single occultation event and contains:

radius (km)

latitude and longitude (degrees)

bending angle (degrees)

pressure (Pa)

temperature (K)

number density (m⁻³)

solar zenith angle (degrees)

local solar time (hours)

Data are provided as ASCII text files along with a label file describing the format and metadata.

These data were originally analyzed and discussed in:Gramigna, E., et al. (2023), Analysis of NASA’s DSN Venus Express radio occultation data for year 2014, Advances in Space Research, 71(1), 1198–1215.

This dataset is intended for use in studies of planetary atmospheres, radio science, and Venus atmospheric structure.