title: A global traveling wave on venus.
abstract: The dominant large-scale pattern in the clouds of Venus has been described as a "gamma" or "Psi" and tentatively identified by earlier workers as a Kelvin wave. A detailed calculation of linear wave modes in the Venus atmosphere verifies this identification. Cloud feedback by infrared heating fluctuations is a plausible excitation mechanism. Modulation of the large-scale pattern by the wave is a possible explanation for the Y. Momentum transfer by the wave could contribute to sustaining the general circulation.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gierasch
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Schinder