About

I am now working at the Laboratoire d’Aerologie (CNRS) in Toulouse, France. My research topics include:

Ice clouds (some of them known as cirrus) and their overall impact on the climate, either locally or globally, including UTLS clouds and PSCs.
How they relate to water vapor distribution in the UTLS and near the TTL.
Correlations between the ice crystal properties (size, shape, orientation and so on), the water content and the cloud radiative impact and lifetime.
Retrieval of these properties through remote sensing observations, esp. polarized.
Using results from these studies, provide General Circulation Models and Mesoscale simulations of climate evolution with somewhat more accurate models for cirrus clouds.
With Julien Delanoe, I am co-PI of the EECLAT project, funded by CNES and CNRS/INSU.
I share some scientific code on Github and the IN2P3 Gitlab, mostly for my own research use, but you could always find something interesting there. Who knows.
I contribute to the design and preparation of upcoming space lidar missions.

I can be contacted at vincent dot noel at aero.obs-mip.fr. I am also on Mastodon

and Bluesky

Recent works

Mathilde Leroux, Vincent Noël. Investigating long-term changes in polar stratospheric clouds above Antarctica during past decades: a temperature-based approach using spaceborne lidar detections. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2024, 24 (10), pp.6433 - 6454. ⟨10.5194/acp-24-6433-2024⟩.
Yorks, J. E., and Coauthors, 2023: A SmallSat Concept to Resolve Diurnal and Vertical Variations of Aerosols, Clouds, and Boundary Layer Height. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 104, E815–E836, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0179.1.
Feofilov, A., Chepfer, H., Noël, V., and Szczap, F.: ATLID Cloud Climate Product, EGUsphere [preprint], 2023
Tesche M., Noel, V.: Locations for the best lidar view of mid-level and high clouds. Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2022
Feofilov, A., Chepfer, H., Noel, V., Guzman, R., Gindre, C., and Chiriaco, M.: Comparing scattering ratio products retrieved from ALADIN/Aeolus and CALIOP/CALIPSO observations: sensitivity, comparability, and temporal evolution, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 2022
Perpina M., V. Noël, H. Chepfer, R. Guzman, A. Feofilov. Link Between Opaque Cloud Properties and Atmospheric Dynamics in Observations and Simulations of Current Climate in the Tropics, and Impact on Future Predictions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, American Geophysical Union, 126 (17), ⟨10.1029/2020JD033899⟩. ⟨hal-03370968⟩, 2021
Dauhut, T., Noel, V., and Dion, I.-A.: The diurnal cycle of the clouds extending above the tropical tropopause observed by spaceborne lidar, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3921–3929, 2020
Baray, J.-L.; Bah, A.; Cacault, P.; Sellegri, K.; Pichon, J.-M.; Deguillaume, L.; Montoux, N.; Noel, V.; Seze, G.; Gabarrot, F.; Payen, G.; Duflot, V. Cloud Occurrence Frequency at Puy de Dôme (France) Deduced from an Automatic Camera Image Analysis: Method, Validation, and Comparisons with Larger Scale Parameters. Atmosphere 2019, 10, 808.
Chepfer, H., Brogniez, H. & Noel, V. Diurnal variations of cloud and relative humidity profiles across the tropics. Sci Rep 9, 16045 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41598-019-52437-6
Vaillant de Guélis T., H. Chepfer, R. Guzman, M. Bonazzola, D. Winker, and V. Noel, 2018: Space lidar observations constrain longwave cloud feedback. Scientific Reports 8, 16570, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-34943-1
Luebke, A., J. Delanoë, V. Noel, H. Chepfer, and B. Stevens, 2018: A Workshop on Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere in Anticipation of the EarthCARE Satellite Mission. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0143.1, in press
Lacour A., H. Chepfer, N. Miller, M. Shupe, V. Noel, X. Fettweis, H. Gallee, J. Kay, R. Guzman, J. Cole, 2018: How well are clouds simulated over Greenland in climate models? Consequences for the surface cloud radiative effect over the ice sheet. J. Climate, in press.
Noel, V., Chepfer, H., Chiriaco, M., and Yorks, J.: The diurnal cycle of cloud profiles over land and ocean between 51° S and 51° N, seen by the CATS spaceborne lidar from the International Space Station, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9457-9473, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9457-2018, 2018
Chepfer, H., Noel, V., Chiriaco, M., Wielicki, B., Winker, D., Loeb, N., & Wood, R. (2018). The potential of a multidecade spaceborne lidar record to constrain cloud feedback. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 123, 5433–5454. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027742
Winker, D., Chepfer, H., Noel, V., X. Cai, 2017 : Observational Constraints on Cloud Feedbacks: The Role of Active Satellite Sensors. Surveys in Geophysics 38 (6), 1483-1508, doi:10.1007/s10712-017-9452-0.
Vaillant de Guélis T., H. Chepfer, V. Noel, R. Guzman, D. Winker, R. Plougonven, 2017: Using space lidar observations to decompose Longwave Cloud Radiative Effect variations over the last decade, Geophys. Res. Let. 44, doi: 10.1002/2017GL074628
Vaillant de Guélis, T., Chepfer, H., Noel, V., Guzman, R., Dubuisson, P., Winker, D. M., and Kato, S.: The link between outgoing longwave radiation and the altitude at which a spaceborne lidar beam is fully attenuated, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4659-4685, 2017, doi:10.5194/amt-10-4659-2017
Noel, V, 2017: Observer les nuages froids par lidar : de la microphysique aux tendances globales. Manuscrit de HDR.
Lacour A., H. Chepfer, M. D. Shupe, N. B. Miller, V. Noel, J. Kay, D. D. Turner, R. Guzman, 2017: Greenland clouds observed in CALIPSO-GOCCP: comparison with ground-based Summit observations. J. Clim. 30, 6065-6083, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0552.1
Guzman R., H. Chepfer, V. Noel, T. Vaillant de Guélis, J. E. Kay, P. Raberanto, G. Cesana, M. A. Vaughan, and D. M. Winker, 2017: Direct atmosphere opacity observations from CALIPSO provide new constraints on cloud- radiation interactions. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 122, 1066-1085, doi:10.1002/2016JD025946
Hoareau, C., Noel, V., Chepfer, H., Vidot, J., Chiriaco, M., Bastin, S., Reverdy, M. and Cesana, G. (2016), Remote sensing ice supersaturation inside and near cirrus clouds: a case study in the subtropics. Atmos. Sci. Lett., 17: 639–645. doi:10.1002/asl.714
Noel V.: Gravity waves and Polar Stratospheric Clouds seen by Spaceborne lidars. Invited talk at the 3rd Antarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network (ANGWIN), 12-14 April 2016, Cambridge (UK).
Reverdy, M., H. Chepfer, D. Donovan, V. Noel, G. Cesana, C. Hoareau, C. Chiriaco and S. Bastin, 2015: An EarthCARE/ATLID simulator to evaluate cloud description in climate models. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos, doi: 10.1002/2015JD023919
Noel, V., Chepfer, H., Hoareau, C., Reverdy, M. and Cesana, G., 2014: Effect of solar activity on noise in CALIOP profiles above the South Atlantic Anomaly, Atmos. Meas. Tech. 7, 1597-1603, doi: 10.5194/amt-7-1597-2014
Hoareau, C., Keckhut, P., Noel, V., Chepfer, H., and Baray, J.-L., 2013: A decadal cirrus clouds climatology from ground-based and spaceborne lidars above south of France (43.9° N–5.7° E), Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6951-6963, doi:10.5194/acp-13-6951-2013
Reverdy M., V. Noel, H. Chepfer, B. Legras, 2012: On the origins of subvisible cirrus clouds in the tropical upper troposphere. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 12 12081-12101, doi: 10.5194/acp-12-12081-2012
V. Noel and M. Pitts, 2012: Gravity wave events from mesoscale simulations, compared to polar stratospheric clouds observed from spaceborne lidar over the Antarctic Peninsula, J. Geophys. Res. 117 D11207.
CALIPSO: des cristaux dans le ciel (fr). La Météorologie 77, 201205.
Ice clouds: micro and macrophysics, role in water cycle, from ground and space (en) - talk given at the Journee Scientifique SIRTA 2012, Palaiseau (France), 2011-05.

PhD mentoring

M. Leroux – current
M. Perpina, 2021: Evolution des propriétés des nuages opaques aux tropiques pendant le 21e siècle : impact de la dynamique atmosphérique, de la variabilité naturelle climatique et du forçage anthropique. Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier
T. Vaillant de Guélis, 2017: Apport des observations par lidar spatial pour comprendre l’effet radiatif des nuages dans l’infrarouge. Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI
A. Lacour, 2016: Les nuages du Groenland observes par CALIPSO. Océan, Atmosphère. Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI
E. Martins, 2010: Les Cirrus subvisibles observés par CALIPSO : liens avec la circulation atmosphérique et la vapeur d’eau dans la haute troposphère. Currently at CNRM.