Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques

Temperature sensitivity of snow viscoplasticity: Evidence from controlled creep experiments

Abstract. Snow is a warm, porous material whose densification under its own weight is highly temperature-dependent. Despite decades of research, reported activation energies for snow viscoplasticity remain highly scattered, ranging from 40 to 600 kJ mol-1. We quantified the tempe...

The Mediterranean Extreme Events Experiment and storm Harry in January 2026

Abstract The Global Observing System (GOS) includes drifting buoys with barometers whose surface pressure observations are essential for estimating the current state of the atmosphere and ocean for Numerical Weather Prediction. The Global Drifter Program, a scientific project bas...

Climatology and trends of extreme precipitation in France: evaluation of an explicit-convection regional climate model

Climate change is intensifying the global water cycle, with extreme precipitation events increasing in frequency and intensity at the global scale. While trends in daily precipitation extremes are well-documented, sub-daily extremes – critical for flash flood risk – remain poorly...

The added value of Med-CORDEX coupled high-resolution regional climate models in representing sea surface temperature and marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) pose significant threats to Mediterranean marine ecosystems and coastal economies, with frequency and severity projected to increase under future climate change. While Med-CORDEX fully-coupled Regional Climate System Models (RCSMs) offer enhanced resolutio...

Orographic impacts of Réunion Island and Madagascar on heavy rainfall during Tropical Cyclone Batsirai (2022)

Abstract. During the passage of tropical cyclone (TC) Batsirai (2022), the mountainous regions of Réunion Island and the eastern part of Madagascar experienced devastating floods. TC Batsirai passed north of Réunion Island (minimum distance of ~210 km) before making landfall alon...

Thermal signature of Sargassum aggregations from Landsat 9 observations.

Since 2011, Sargassum blooms in the Tropical Atlantic have led to massive strandings along coastlines, posing significant ecological, economic, and public health threats. A key research challenge is to improve our understanding of the environmental factors influencing Sargassum g...

Systematic overestimation of evapotranspiration over irrigated areas by an offline land surface model

Abstract. Offline Land Surface Models (LSMs) are essential for a wide range of applications, including water resource management and agricultural planning. A critical variable in these models is evapotranspiration, but its value is easily biased in irrigated areas. In fact, irrig...

Middle atmosphere chemical and dynamical effects in the CCMI-2022 stratospheric aerosol injection scenario

Abstract. Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) could slow surface warming, however, potential side effects include changes in stratospheric ozone and changes in regional surface temperatures and precipitation resulting from tropical lower stratospheric warming. Previous multi-mo...