Research

Current research activities
Development of mathematical and numerical models of geophysical free-surface flows (mainly creeping, low Froude ones): glaciers flows (multi-scale, multi-regime free-surface shallow flows), rivers flows (multi-dimensional, multi-scale), lava flows etc. The considered dynamic free surface flows are remotely observed, measured "from above" (from satellites, drones etc). Then my studies focus on the inference of uncertain features (e.g. basal properties (topography-friction) or rheology) by assimilating the remote sensed data into the physical-based models (the latter may be classical or original ones).
These applied mathematics researches may be naturally connected to the use of multi-satellites (altimetry, InSAR, optical) and drones measurements-databases in Earth sciences.

Keywords: Geophysical free-surface fluid flows, PDE models, inverse modeling, numerical methods, variational data assimilation, "hybrid inversions": physically-informed and data-driven.

Algorithms recently obtained (with on-going improvements); corresponding computational codes are open-source, available on demand.
*) Discharge and bathymetry estimations of rivers from altimetry measurements (the HiVDI algorithm).
*) Bed topography estimations beneath glaciers, for moderatly sheared ice flows i.e. in areas where flows are moderatly fast; typically in the poorly monitored and unmonitored interior sectors of East Antarctica.
*) In progress: Inference of effective (complex) fluid rheology from flow measurements.

More information on the following publications page. A few real-world examples are available on DassFlow webpage.

A few description for non-experts
* On the SWOT mission page (NASA-JPL/Caltech, CNES), you will find short presentations of river discharge estimations and estimations of ice thickeness in unexplored regions.
* On the CNES-Aviso+ website (altimetry, European space missions): "Modeling the flow" (2019) and "Testing algorithms" (2016).
* Un autre article sur la même thématique dans The Conversation "Cycle de l’eau : estimer pour la première fois le débit des rivières à l’échelle planétaire" (2022).
* An INSA newsletter on discharges estimations of rivers (2018).
* Breves de maths, Mathematiques de la planete Terre (CNRS-INRIA et al.): de nombreuses notes courtes a lire, dont une petite contribution personnelle traitant des "ecoulements des fleuves et rivieres : un deluge d'images" (2013).
* An easy-to-follow talk on my on-going research topics:A few inverse problems in Earth Sciences (hydrology, glaciology) (slides).