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The atmosphere of Venus contains highly scattering aerosols in suspension, mostly at cloud top layer. This cloud deck covers entirely the planet, imposing an unusually high albedo. These particles are carried by the wind, carrying with them the information on atmospheric dynamics. The main purpose of this work is to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of the Venusian atmosphere, constraining its characterization at cloud top level, complementing the observations of the Venus Express spacecraft with ground-based observations. In order to achieve this objective of studying the atmospheric super-rotation, it was measured the zonal wind velocity (crosswind the planet from East to West) and its spatial and temporal variability, by means of high precision spectroscopy and Doppler velocimetry.

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Pedro Mota Machado s activity is focused on planetary atmospheric dynamics. He obtained his PhD degree, at the Paris Observatory and the University of Lisbon, with a thesis on Characterization of the Dynamics of the Atmosphere of Venus with Doppler Velocimetry. Currently, he continues his research on the framework of the european project EuroVenus.

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