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Maxence Lefevre
+33 1 44273865
maxence.lefevre@latmos.ipsl.fr
I am a planetary scientist currently Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow under the grant agreement 101110489/MuSICA-V at LATMOS in the Solar System team, studying the climate of planetary atmosphere, mainly Venus and Titan.
I am a co-I of the VenSpec suite, an Interdisciplinary Scientist of the EnVision mission
If you want to collaborate, don't hesitate to contact me or the team
Positions
2023-2025 Maria Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral Research Assistant, LATMOS
Venus Climate Theory and Simulation
2022-2023 CNES Postdoctoral Research Assistant, LATMOS
Venus Climate Theory and Simulation
2018-2022 Postdoctoral Research Assistant, AOPP, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Exoplanet Climate Theory and Simulation
2015-2018 Ph.D., LMD, Sorbonne Université , Paris, FRANCE
Subject: Small scale Modeling of the atmosphere of Venus: Convection and gravity waves
Supervisors : Sébastien LEBONNOIS and Aymeric SPIGA
Research
My research is the climate on various body, into the solar system and beyond, and especially the interaction between chemistry and dynamics and small-scale atmospheric phenomena: turbulence, waves and instabilities.
To pursue these investigations, I use numerical modeling to simulate the dynamics of the atmosphere. For global scale modeling I use LMDz, able to reproduce Earth, Mars, Venus, Titan and even exoplanets atmospheric dynamics. For small-scale studies I develop a mesoscale/LES model for Venus, exoplanets and Titan based on WRF dynamical core and LMDz physics.
During my postdoctoral position at the University of Oxford, I developed a new model based on the CM1 core to study the atmosphere of exoplanets and brown dwarfs. At LATMOS, I am focusing of studying the variabilities of Venus climate and Titan near-surface dynamics.
The recent missions provided insight of the small-scale turbulence inside the Atmosphere of Venus. The NASA mission Pioneer Venus measured a mixed layer into the clouds, between approximately 50 and 55 km. In-situ measurements by the Soviet Balloons VeGa show vertical wind of about 3 m/s, convective activity is taking place in this mixed layer. This convective layer has been measured by several Venera missions and the Megellan mission. The European mission Venus Express with the radio-occulation experiment VERA observed this layer. The depth varies with latitude with a maximum of 10 km around 75°. Small-scale gravity waves has also been observed by the camera VMC onboard of Venus Express at the top of the cloud layer (about 70 km). The convection generates gravity waves both above and below the convective layer, these waves propagates both horizontally and vertically. The goal of the Venus LES model developed at LMD is to study this turbulence. Turbulence and small scale are visible in the picture below taken by the Japanese mission Akatsuki.I have coupled the convection model to the Venus chemical network, and the variabilities due small-scale turbulence have been quantified for the first time.
The Akatsukiinstrument LIR observed stationnary bow-shape wave at top of the cloud above the main topographic features of the tropics. The length of these waves can up to 10 000 km and ast around 10 earth days. These waves are thought to be mountain wave.
The LMD mesoscale model has been developped to address this study and is able to resolve such wave features and brang more understanding in the vertical propagation of waves in the context Venus atmospheric stability profile.
Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is characterized by its thick atmosphere whose surface pressure is similar to the Earth's. Titan's weather is particularly active at all spatial scales: global (e.g., super-rotating winds), intermediate / mesoscale (e.g., convective thunderstorms, air-sea circulations), local (e.g., turbulence in the planetary boundary layer, the atmospheric layer in direct contact with the surface).
The knowledge of Titan's atmosphere has been deeply renewed by the various fly-bys of the Cassini spacecraft from 2004 to 2017 and the landing of the Huygens probe in 2004. It is now well-known that Titan is characterized by a methane cycle akin to the hydrological cycle on Earth, with methane and hydrocarbons lakes, clouds, storms and precipitations. The seasonal cycle of Titan is pronounced and leads to global transport of volatiles and aerosols, and overturning wind circulations. On smaller scales, turbulence near the surface of Titan is potentially strong in daytime. The inquisite details of Titan's photochemistry is now revealed, with a specific emphasis on the formation of haze particles in the atmosphere and the deposition of organic particles at the surface. The aeolian environment of Titan is active, with a fifth of Titan's surface being covered by dunes fields and the organic dust particles at the surface being potentially transported by wind circulations at all scales, and possible dust storm.
The next milestone of the exploration of Titan is known: the Dragonfly mission, to be launched in 2027 and reaching Titan in 2034, will consist in flying a heavy, instrumented, quadcopter within the atmosphere of Titan to visit several sites of interest and understand the geology, weather, exobiological environment of Titan. The landing site and first exploration region of Dragonfly will be the Selk impact crater structure in the dark Shangri-La region, characterized by a surface rich in organic dust particles organized as dune fields whose peculiar morphology probably involves two distinct wind regimes that remains to be understood.
I developed a mesoscale model to study the impact of surface characteristics like elevation, albedo or thermal inertia, on the dynamics of surface winds.
The habitable zone (HZ) is classically defined as the range of orbital distances for which a planet can sustain water in liquid phase at the surface, providing a potentially suitable environment (surface, liquid water, photons) for the emergence of life as we know it on Earth. Depending on the rotation state and the atmospheric composition of the planet, various processes can either extend or narrow the HZ. While the presence of greenhouse gases tends to increase the surface temperature, the radiative effect of clouds can be much more subtle. Clouds can scatter (and thus reflect) as well as absorb a significant part of incident stellar radiation. But they can also absorb (and scatter) the infrared thermal emission from the surface and the atmosphere, and then reemit (or back scatter, respectively) infrared thermal radiation back to the surface
On Earth, the relative ratio between cloud-free and cloudy area in the tropics have a strong effect on the mean temperature. It is therefore crucial to know the composition, thickness, and vertical and horizontal spatial distributions of these clouds to correctly evaluate the state of the climate of the Earth and by extension of other planets in or outside of the solar system.
I developed a model a cloud-resolving model based on WRF and Generic PCM physics to study the convection at the sub-stellar point. This model has been applied for the Proxima-b case.
Since the first two confirmations of the observations of brown dwarfs, about 2000 similar objects have been observed, the vast majority of them free floating. These objects are classified into three types: L, T and Y dwarfs in decreasing temperature range. The L dwarfs are cooler than the M dwarf but exhibit similarities in photospheric chemical composition, containing alkali lines (K, Na), metal hybrids (FeH), oxides (TiO, VO), and water. The so-called L/T transition occurs at effective temperatures around 1100–1400 K. The L dwarfs appear redder in the color–magnitude diagram, with CO absorption, while T dwarfs appear bluer with stronger CH4 absorption features. The chemical change is attributed to the cooling of the atmosphere. The L/T transition is presumably linked to the formation of iron and silicate clouds in the photosphere of L dwarfs, shifting them redder in the color–magnitude diagram. The Y dwarfs are colder and show H2O and CH4 absorption bands in the near-infrared, as well as water cloud features.
The variability of the light curve in the IR is thought to be caused by inhomogeneous surface brightness due to rotational modulation, evolving over a few rotation periods, suggesting a rapid change of the surface features. The horizontal variation of the cloud and temperature structure could also play a role in this variability, but the mechanisms controlling clouds dynamics are still under investigation.
I build a convective-resolving model is coupled to gray-band radiative transfer in order to study the coupling between the convective atmosphere and the variability of clouds over a large temperature range with a domain of several hundred kilometers. MgSiO3, Fe, Al2O3, CaTiO3, Cr and MnS clouds are considered, with microphysics including settling.
Publications
M. Lefèvre, M. Cerminara & A. Costa, Eruption column modeling of explosive volcanism on Venus, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 130, e2025JE009320 (2025)
[ Journal website | arXiv ]
M. Lefèvre, S. Lebonnois, A. Spiga and F. Forget. The effect of near-surface winds on surface temperature and dust transport on Venus, JGR: Planets, 130 (2025)
[ Journal website | arXiv ]
J. A. Dias, P. Machado, S. Robert, J. Erwin, J. C. Duarte, D. Quirino, M. Lefèvre and C. F. Wilson. Volcanic Gas Plumes' Effect on the Spectrum of Venus, Icarus, 116589 (2025)
[ Journal website ]
A. Braude, L. Kerber, F. Lefèvre, A. Y. Jaziri, S. S. Hamid, M. Maurice, M. Lefèvre, E. Millour and F. Forget. Modelling the effect of volcanic outgassing of sulphur on early Martian surface temperatures using a 3-D Global Climate Model, Icarus, 436, 116568 (2025).
[ Journal website | ADS link ]
C. Gillmann, G. Arney, G. Avice, M. Dyer, G. Golabek, A. Gulcher, N. Johnson, M. Lefèvre and T. Widemann. Venus, Treatise on Geochemistry (Third Edition), Volume 7, 289-323. (2025)
[ Journal website | arXiv ]
Garcia, R. F., I. van Zelst, T. Kawamura, S. P. Näsholm, A. Horleston, S. Klaasen, M. Lefèvre, C. M. Solberg, K. T. Smolinski, A.-C. Plesa, Q. Brissaud, J. S. Maia, S. C. Stähler, P. Lognonné, M. Panning, A. Gülcher, R. Ghail, and B. De Toffoli. Seismic wave detectability on Venus using ground deformation sensors, infrasound sensors on balloons and airglow imagers, Earth and Space Science, 11, e2024EA003670. (2024)
[ Journal website | ADS link ]
T. Encrenaz, T. K. Greathouse, R. Giles, T. Widemann, B. Bézard, F. Lefèvre, M. Lefèvre, W. Shao, H. Sagawa, E. Marcq and A. Arredondo. Stringent upper limits of minor species at the cloud top of Venus: PH3, HCN, and NH3, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 690, A304. (2024)
[ Journal website | ADS link ]
J. Leconte, A. Spiga, N. Clément, S. Guerlet, F. Selsis, G. Milcareck, T. Cavalié, R. Moreno, E. Lellouch, Ó. Carrión-González, B. Charnay and M. Lefèvre. A 3D picture of moist-convection inhibition in hydrogen-rich atmospheres: Implications for K2-18 b, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 686, A131. (2024)
[ Journal website | ADS link | arXiv ]
M. Lefèvre, F. Lefèvre, E. Marcq, A. Määttänen, A. Stolzenbach and N. Streel. Impact of the Turbulent Vertical Mixing on Chemical and Cloud Species in the Venus Cloud Layer, Geophysical Research Letters, 86, 115148. (2024)
[ Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
C. Wilson, E. Marcq, C. Gillmann, T. Widemann, O. Korablev, N. Mueller, M. Lefèvre, P. Rimmer, S. Robert, M. Zolotov and T. Widemann. Possible Effects of Volcanic Eruptions on the Modern Atmosphere of Venus, Space Science Reviews, Chapter part of Venus: Evolution Through Time collection, 220, 31. (2024)
[ Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
E. Marcq, B. Bézard, J.-M. Reess, F. Henry, S. Érard, S. Robert, F. Montmessin, F. Lefèvre, M. Lefèvre, A. Stolzenbach, J.-L. Bertaux, G. Piccioni, and P. Drossart. Minor species in Venus’ night side troposphere as observed by VIRTIS-H/Venus Express, Icarus, 405, 115714. (2023)
[ Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
T. Encrenaz, T. K. Greathouse, R. Giles, T. Widemann, B. Bézard, M. Lefèvre, and W. Shao. HDO and SO2 Thermal mapping on Venus. VI. An anomalous SO2 behavior during Autumn 2021, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 674, A199. (2023)
[ Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
M. Lefèvre, X. Tan, E. Lee, and R. T. Pierrehumbert. Cloud-convection feedback in brown dwarfs atmosphere, The Astrophysical Journal, 929, 153. (2022)
[ arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
M. Lefèvre, E. Marcq, and F. Lefèvre. The Impact of Turbulent Vertical Mixing in the Venus Clouds on Chemical Tracers, Icarus, 86, 115148. (2022)
[ arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
M. Lefèvre. Venus boundary layer dynamics: eolian transport and convective vortex ,Icarus, 387, 115167. (2022)
[ arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
M. Lefèvre, M. Turbet, and R. T. Pierrehumbert. 3D cloud-convection model of temperate, tidally-locked exoplanets, The Astrophysical Journal, 913, 101. (2021)
[ PDF version | arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
X. Tan, M. Lefèvre, and R. T. Pierrehumbert. Convection Modeling of Pure-steam Atmospheres, The Astrophysical Journal Letters,923, L15. (2021)
[ arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
G. Mahapatra, M. Lefèvre, L. Rossi, A. Spiga, and D. M. Stam. Polarimetry as a tool for observing orographic gravity waves on Venus, The Planetary Science Journal, 2(3):96. (2021)
[ Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
J. E. Silva, P. Machado, J. Peralta, F. Brasil, S. Lebonnois, and M. Lefèvre. Characterising atmospheric gravity waves on the nightside lower clouds of Venus: a systematic analysis, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 649, A34. (2021)
[ arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
T. Fauchez, et al. TRAPPIST Habitable Atmosphere Intercomparaison (THAI) workshop report, Planetary Science Journal., 2(3):106. (2021)
[ arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
M. Lefèvre, A. Spiga, and S. Lebonnois. Mesoscale modeling of Venus' bow-shape waves, Icarus, 335-113376. (2020)
[ PDF version | arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
M. Lefèvre, S. Lebonnois, and A. Spiga. Three-dimensional turbulence-resolving modeling of the Venusian cloud layer and induced gravity waves: inclusion of complete radiative transfer and wind shear, Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets), 123. (2018)
[ PDF version | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
O. Venot, Y. Bénilan, N. Fray,M.-C. Gazeau, F. Lefèvre, Et. Es-sebbar, E. Hébrard, M. Schwell, C. Bahrini, F. Montmessin, M. Lefèvre, and I. P. Waldmann. VUV-absorption cross section of carbon dioxide from 150 to 800 K and applications to warm exoplanetary atmospheres, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 609:a34. (2018)
[ arXiv | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
M. Lefèvre, A. Spiga, and S. Lebonnois. Three-dimensional turbulence-resolving modeling of the Venusian cloud layer and induced gravity waves, Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets), 122:134--149. (2017)
[ PDF version | Journal website | ADS link | Bibtex entry ]
