Antoine Lucas

Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
Planetary and Space Sciences External Envelopes Geochemistry
CNRS research scientist · HDR

I study how landscapes and near-surface environments evolve on Earth and across the Solar System. Landslides, avalanches, dunes, rivers, lakes, and sediment transport provide natural experiments for understanding how gravity, atmosphere, climate, volatiles, and surface materials control planetary surfaces.

I combine planetary mission data, remote sensing, field observations, image processing, environmental seismology, and physics-based numerical modeling. Other worlds extend the range of conditions available on Earth and help test which geological and climate processes are universal.

Research focus

Mass wasting and hazards Landslides, avalanches, debris flows, tsunamis, and sediment cascades. Planetary landscapes Active surfaces and regolith processes on Mars, Titan, Venus, the Moon, and icy satellites. Observation and modeling Remote sensing, environmental seismology, LiDAR, inversion, and numerical models.

Explore the research themes →

A geomorphologist by objects of study, a geophysicist by methods, and a planetary scientist by perspective, I define myself as a space hacker, an astro-geologist, a landscape analyst, and a space avalancher.

Current roles

Member of the EuroSAR Science Team for ESA’s EnVision mission to Venus.
Principal Investigator of the PHYGRAV Platform for hydro-gravitational hazards.
Member of the board of directors of the Planetary Research Cooperative, supporting the diamond open-access journal Planetary Research.
Head of the Natural Hazards Master’s program at IPGP / Université Paris Cité.

Recent Publications

A Physics-Based Frequency-Temperature Seismic Anelastic Attenuation Model for Planetary Ice Shells

L. Delaroque, A. Lucas, T. Kawamura, and S. Rodriguez

Earth & Space Science, 2026.

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Intrinsic attenuation in planetary ices remains poorly constrained at seismic frequencies and low temperatures, limiting quantitative predictions of wave propagation in icy moons. Existing models typically rely on constant-Q, or power-law formulations that lack microphysical grounding and fail to capture the strong temperature sensitivity of ice Ih. Here, we develop a physics-based attenuation model that combines dislocation relaxation, grain-boundary sliding, and proton reorientation mechanisms within a unified Cole-SAS-Maxwell framework, ensuring a consistent transition between seismic and tidal frequency regimes. The model is calibrated against laboratory and semi-empirical constraints over 94–273 K and pressures up to 100 MPa. The proposed framework predicts order-of-magnitude variations in intrinsic shear attenuation across icy-shell thermal profiles and provides a quantitative framework for assessing wave dispersion, energy loss, and seismic detectability in the shells of Titan-like satellites.
Bayesian inversion of the Hapke model on (4) Vesta’s avalanches and ejecta: Photometric constraints on regolith evolution

D.T. Nguyen, A. Roque-Bernard, A. Lucas, S. Jacquemoud, and C. Ferrari

A&A, 2026.

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The Dawn mission revealed significant photometric variability on (4) Vesta, particularly in areas with craters, avalanches, cliffs and ejecta. Understanding how surface processes control these variations is essential to understanding regolith evolution on airless bodies. We test the hypothesis that the photometric behavior of bright units can be explained by granular segregation during mass wasting and impact emplacement rather than by subsequent optical maturation. Using a Bayesian approach, we invert a four-parameter Hapke model at two sites: bright avalanches in Cornelia crater and a fresh ejecta deposit on the Matronalia Rupes scarp. For each geomorphological unit, we adjust median reflectance factors for phase angles ranging from 10∘to 70∘. Because the available data do not identify the opposition effect robustly, the main inversion is complemented by sensitivity tests using literature-based fixed SHOE prescriptions, reported explicitly for Cornelia. We retrieve the Hapke parameters {ω,θ,b,c} with full posteriors. Fresh, bright deposits at both sites exhibit higher single-scattering albedo (ω) than adjacent older or fine-depleted surfaces. Cornelia avalanches also favor higher photometric roughness (θ) than the crater floor and opposite wall. At Cornelia, sensitivity tests show that ω, \barθ, and the relative ordering of terrains remain stable, whereas the absolute values of the phase-function parameters (b,c) depend more strongly on how SHOE is represented. Granular segregation during emplacement explains the brightest units, while optical maturation and surface stabilization explain the darker ones. Even without direct opposition coverage, the baseline inversion and Cornelia SHOE sensitivity tests yield a consistent relative “freshness ranking” that complements morphological superposition. This ranking provides a transferable framework for interpreting regolith processes on airless bodies.
Landslide-Tsurrogate v1.0: A computationally efficient framework for probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment applied to Mayotte (France)

Clea Lumina Denamiel, Alexis Marboeuf, Anne Mangeney, Anne Le Friant, Marc Peruzzetto, Antoine Lucas, Manuel J. Castro Díaz, and Enrique Fernández-Nieto

Geoscientific Model Development, 2026.

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Landslide-Tsurrogate v1.0 is an open-source Python and MATLAB tool that helps scientists quickly estimate the tsunami hazards generated by submarine landslides. Instead of running thousands of heavy deterministic numerical simulations, the software builds surrogate models that reproduce the main results with a fraction of the computational cost. The method relies on a mathematical approach called generalized polynomial chaos expansion, which efficiently explores how uncertain landslide parameters affect tsunami generation. Users can perform sensitivity analyses, identify the most influential parameters, and quantify the variability of possible outcomes. The tool includes a Jupyter Notebook User Manual and interactive MATLAB and Jupyter Notebook interfaces, making it easy to understand the methodology, set up the surrogate simulations and visualize the results. The Landslide-Tsurrogate v1.0 model’s performance is demonstrated through a real-world test case involving five zones in Mayotte (France). For this application, the surrogate models achieve convergence with only 135 deterministic simulations per zone and produce probabilistic results in less than 2 seconds within the user-friendly interfaces used on a basic laptop, demonstrating the computational efficiency of the approach. Beyond this example, the framework can be applied to any coastal region prone to submarine landslides. By combining physical modeling, statistical analysis, and user-friendly design, Landslide-Tsurrogate v1.0 enables faster and more transparent probabilistic tsunami hazard assessments.
Investigating the Detectability of Body Wave Phases from Tidal Ice Cracking Events on Titan with the DragonFly Short-Period Seismometer

L. Delaroque, T. Kawamura, A. Lucas, S. Rodriguez, K. Onodera, H. Shiraishi, R. Yamada, S. Tanaka, M. P. Panning, and R. D. Lorenz

JGR-Planets, 2026.

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Detecting seismic activity on Saturn’s icy moon Titan during the \textitDragonfly mission could provide crucial information on its internal structure. The geological complexity of the moon’s surface suggests significant cyclic tidal deformation, likely leading to the fracturing of the ice shell. Considering realistic source locations and fault geometries, we assess whether a vertical short-period seismometer can detect body waves from a M_w 4.0 icequake. Signal-to-noise ratios are evaluated by comparing the high-frequency content with the expected background noise and instrument capabilities for several ice attenuation scenarios and 1D interior models. Our results indicate that the high-frequency content (\geq1Hz) of M_w ≤4.0 tidal-induced icequakes is likely undetectable under the most unfavorable attenuation scenarios and atmospheric conditions. However, seismic signals in the 0.5-1 Hz band—where P wave reflections dominate—may still be observable for events occurring in potential seismically active regions at ∼800 – 1,000 km from the \textitDragonfly’s landing site. These signals could provide constraints on the thickness of Titan’s outer ice shell, provided that intrinsic attenuation is low and environmental conditions are favorable.