Seismic Wave Detectability on Venus Using Ground Deformation Sensors, Infrasound Sensors on Balloons and Airglow Imagers
Abstract The relatively unconstrained internal structure of Venus is a missing piece in our understanding of the formation and evolution of the Solar System. Detection of seismic waves generated by venusquakes is crucial to determine the seismic structure of Venus' interior, as recently shown by the new seismic and geodetic constraints on Mars' interior obtained by the InSight mission. In the next decade multiple missions will fly to Venus to explore its tectonic and volcanic activity, but they will not be able to conclusively detect seismic waves, despite their potential to detect fault movements. Looking toward the next fleet of Venus missions after the ones already decided, various concepts to measure seismic waves have been proposed. These detection methods include typical geophysical ground sensors already deployed on Earth, the Moon, and Mars; pressure sensors on balloons; and imagers of high altitude emissions (airglow) on orbiters. The latter two methods target the detection of the infrasound signals generated by seismic waves and amplified during their upward propagation. Here, we provide a first comparison between the detection capabilities of these different measurement techniques and recent estimates of Venus' seismic activity. In addition, we discuss the performance requirements and measurement durations required to detect seismic waves with the various detection methods. Our study clearly presents the advantages and limitations of the different seismic wave detection techniques and can be used to drive the design of future mission concepts aiming to study the seismicity of Venus.
Authors
- Quentin Brissaud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8189-4699)
- R. García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1460-6663)
- Krystyna Smolinski
- Taïchi Kawamura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5246-5561)
- Anna Horleston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6748-6522)
- M. P. Panning (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2041-3190)
- Maxence Lefèvre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3143-9716)
- Barbara De Toffoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3106-5689)
- Anna Gülcher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5999-3463)
- Simon C. Stähler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0783-2489)
- Julia Maia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3605-6554)
- Iris van Zelst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4698-9910)
- Sven Peter Näsholm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9107-4002)
- Richard Ghail (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4918-0685)
- Sara Klaasen
- Ana‐Catalina Plesa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3366-7621)
- Philippe Lognonné (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1014-920X)
- Céline Marie Solberg
Institutions
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Institut de physique du globe de Paris (FR)
- Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR)
- Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Institut Superieur de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) (FR)
- Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IT)
- Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (FR)
- Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales (FR)
- Technische Universität Berlin (DE)
- Norsar (NO)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Earth and Space Science
- Published
- 2024-11-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ea003670
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.66
Funders
- UK Space Agency
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt