# # Program information file # PROGRAM_ID 2023A068 PROGRAM_TITLE Near-infrared thermal mapping of Venus' surface PROGRAM_INV1 Takao Sato PROGRAM_INV2 Hideo Sagawa PROGRAM_INV3 PROGRAM_INV4 PROGRAM_INV5 PROGRAM_SCICAT major planets / satellites PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG Why has Venus' climate evolved so different from Earth? - this is a fundamental question in planetary science, and also is the key to understand how the habitability has emerged in terrestrial rocky planets. Although there are many unsolved scientific problems on Venus climate system, there is no doubt that the chemical interactions between the surface and atmosphere are playing a significant role there. For instance, a reaction with surface pyrite and CO2 atmosphere can be a buffer of gaseous SO2 and CO. But, the detail effectiveness of such interactions [chemical weathering] is still in debate. For the further understanding, a map of the surface composition becomes essential information. Recently, near-infrared emissivity of Venus' surface analog materials was measured under high-temperature conditions in laboratory. By comparing observed Venus surface emissivity maps with such new database, we will constrain the surface composition of Venus. The emissivity maps will be obtained by observing the thermal emission from the surface at the specific wavelengths around 1.0 micron ['atmospheric windows' to observe below the dense Venus atmosphere] in the nightside hemisphere of Venus. PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END