A two dimensional shock capturing, hydrodynamic model of the Venus ionosphere

A two‐dimensional, time‐dependent, shock capturing single‐species (O+) hydrodynamic model of the Venus ionosphere, which solves the coupled continuity, momentum and energy equations for the altitude range of 150–500 km and the solar zenith angle range of 0°–180° has been developed and is presented in this paper. It was again demonstrated that the introduction of topside heat inflows leads to calculated dayside electron and ion temperatures, which are consistent with the measured values. In order to reproduce the measured electron temperatures, which are roughly constant over all SZA's, the heat inflows had to be reduced significantly over the nightside compared to the dayside values. The calculated transterminator ion flows are supersonic and relatively close to the observed average values. The model predicts a deceleration shock at a SZA of about 135°, consistent with the ion temperature and velocity observations.