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Venus lightning

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Abstract

Although it is not unanimously accepted, many independent observations lead to the conclusion that lightning is prevalent on Venus. The electromagnetic signals detected by all 4 Venera landers are most readily explained as generation by lightning. The Venera 9 spectrometer appears to have observed a lightning storm on one occasion. The Pioneer Venus plasma wave instrument detects waves both below the electron gyrofrequency that may be due to lightning and signals above the electron gyrofrequency but at very low altitudes that may be due to the near field of the lightning. The VLF observations suggest that Venus lightning must be an intra-cloud phenomenon which is most frequent in the afternoon and evening sector. The occurrence rate is likely to be greater than on Earth.

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  1. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, 90024-1567, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    C. T. Russell

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  1. C. T. Russell
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Russell, C.T. Venus lightning. Space Sci Rev 55, 317–356 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00177140

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