VEM Scientific Aims
The Spectrometer Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) and its scientific aims.
VERITAS will map Venus’ surface to determine the planet’s geologic history and understand why it developed so differently than Earth. Orbiting Venus with a synthetic aperture radar, VERITAS will chart surface elevations over nearly the entire planet to create 3D reconstructions of topography and confirm whether processes such as plate tectonics and volcanism are still active on Venus.
With VEM VERITAS will also map infrared emissions from Venus’ surface to map its rock type, which is largely unknown, and determine whether active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere.
The VEM instrument will provide a global map of rock type from orbit, assessing iron contents and the redox state of the surface by observing the surface with six narrow band filters, ranging from 0.86 to 1.18 µm. Three additional windows allow corrections for cloud composition and variability, two measure water abundance, and three compensate for stray light. Continuous observation of Venus’ thermal emission will also place tighter constraints on current volcanic activity. Eight channels provide measurements of atmospheric water vapor abundance as well as cloud microphysics and dynamics, permitting accurate correction of atmospheric interference on the surface data.
