Scattering in the atmosphere of Venus. III - Line profiles and phase curves for Rayleigh scattering

Spectral line profiles, curves of growth, and curves for the equivalent width of a line as a function of Venus phase angle have been computed for a Rayleigh scattering cloud and compared with those for a cloud of isotropic scatterers. The results are very similar for the two kinds of scattering, with the exception of the curves of equivalent width as a function of Venus phase angle. These latter curves exhibit the 'inverse phase effect' and rule out a scale height of the clouds much less than half the scale height of the gas. The optical depth of the clouds is approximately 100.