Publication Abstracts

Mogul et al. 2025

Mogul, R., S.S. Limaye, and M.J. Way, 2025: Altitude profile and isotopic composition for N2 from Pioneer Venus mass spectra. Geophys. Res. Lett., 52, no. 23, e2025GL118909, doi:10.1029/2025GL118909.

We report the highest resolution altitude profile and isotopic composition for N2 at Venus, to date. These results were obtained through re-analysis of data acquired by the Pioneer Venus Large Probe Neutral Mass Spectrometer (LNMS). The N2 is non-uniformly mixed across the clouds and sub-cloud atmosphere (∼59$-15 km) yet uniformly mixed across the deep lower atmosphere (DLA, <15 km). The volume percent for N2 decreases by ∼2.1-fold between the clouds (5.21±0.18 vol%; ∼59-51 km) and DLA (2.49±0.10 vol%; <15 km) with concomitant increases in the atmospheric molecular masses. Using the cloud N2, we extracted the 15N/14N ratio (2.93×10-3±0.13×10-3) and a corresponding δ15N (-204±35‰). Together, the LNMS results suggest that (a) N2 is not well-mixed >15 km, (b) the atmosphere is unstable at <15 km, and (c) the cloud δ15N falls between the solar wind and Earth's atmosphere.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{mo08400w,
  author={Mogul, R. and Limaye, S. S. and Way, M. J.},
  title={Altitude profile and isotopic composition for N2 from Pioneer Venus mass spectra},
  year={2025},
  journal={Geophysical Research Letters},
  volume={52},
  number={23},
  pages={e2025GL118909},
  doi={10.1029/2025GL118909},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - mo08400w
AU  - Mogul, R.
AU  - Limaye, S. S.
AU  - Way, M. J.
PY  - 2025
TI  - Altitude profile and isotopic composition for N2 from Pioneer Venus mass spectra
JA  - Geophys. Res. Lett.
JO  - Geophysical Research Letters
VL  - 52
IS  - 23
SP  - e2025GL118909
DO  - 10.1029/2025GL118909
ER  -

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