User:Elisespac/Volcanism on Venus

In March 2023, announced at the 54th Lunar Planetary Science Conference in the Woodlands Texas, a team revealed the first images of volcanic activity at the surface of Venus. The announcement consisted of two radar images from different cycles of Magellan data (8 months apart) that displayed a volcanic vent that had expanded by almost 2 square kilometers. This data was over 30 years old at the time of this discovery. The scientists check that this expansion could not be explained by the angle at which the images were taken through computer simulations which revealed that the change must the structural.

'''There are over 80,000 volcanoes on Venus detected through radar mapping. For many years scientists debated on whether Venus was currently active or if the volcanic structures were remnants from the past. There are few impact craters on Venus' surface which pointed to relatively recent resurfacing.'''

Until 2023 there had only been hints of active volcanism; announced in March 2023 scientists imaged a vent expanding in Magellan images which is the proof needed to announce active volcanism

Three missions will launch in the 2030's, VERITAS, DAVINCI, and EnVision; all of which will help detect volcanism. Both VERITAS and EnVision will use radar remote sensing to map the surface of Venus at resolution 10 times better than that of Magellan. These missions will allow mapping over different time periods that could display more, higher resolution, evidence of current day volcanism.

EnVision has the VenSAR (Venus Sythetic Apperture Radar) instrument that will map down to 30 m resolution and even down to 1 m in select areas. The SRS (Subsurface Radar Sounder) will penetrate the surface up to a kilometer and receive signals back that can be used to describe the internal structures of the planet. This will help to learn about internal workings of volcanic structures. The Venus Emisivity Mapper (VEM) will map the surface in infrared wavelengths which when added to radar can describe the topography of the surface.

DAVINCI will not be mapping the surface, but analyzing the atmosphere. The analysis of SO2 and other gasses will help to learn about out gassing from recent volcanoes. DAVINCI will have a probe that descends into the atmosphere collecting data along the way. Atmospheric analysis will provide important information to pair with the recent discovery of active volcanism.

VERITAS will also have the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) and a radar imager VISAR (Venus Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar). These will map lava fields and volcanoes on Venus' surface. Originally set to launch in 2027, this mission has been delayed until 2030. If VERITAS resumes its original launch date, the data between VERTIAS and EnVision will pair together similarly to the various cycles of Magellan data. They would then have the opportunity to view volcanic changes across a set of years.