On the reality of the Venus winds

The article presents a rebuttal of Young's (1975) view that the 140 m/sec horizontal wind at 45 km reported by Venera 8 is anomalous or spurious. Some errors are discussed and the largest contribution is attributed to descent probe measurements designed to find the true probe descent rate. Young's suggestion of error in in situ measurement of winds due to selection of a reference speed and to unrecognized oscillator drift is scrutinized. Evidence is seen for a wide band of variable high-grade retrograde horizontal winds girdling Venus at the equator. Mariner 10 evidence (UV photographs) is taken into account. The band of winds at 45 km is seen to extend well beyond the top of the visible cloud, and an upper turbulent region is attributed to vertical convection currents carried along by high-speed horizontal winds.