2025 Halley Public Lecture

Clouds display striking forms of organisation on the mesoscale (a scale ranging typically from 2 to 200 km). Far from being a mere curiosity, this organisation challenges our understanding of atmospheric physics and climate. What processes control cloud patterns and organisations? How much does the mesoscale organisation of convection matter for climate? I will show how new observations from satellites and field campaigns shed light on how and why clouds organise at the mesoscale. Then, based on simulations from a new generation of climate models, I will explore the role that this mesoscale organisation might play in climate and climate change.

This event is free and open to all.