Antoine Lucas

Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
Planetary and Space Sciences group
External envelopes geochemistry group

CNRS research scientist

About me

My research focuses on understanding the evolution of surface and near-surface environments on Earth and other planetary bodies, including lakes on Titan, landslides on Mars and icy satellites, and aeolian transport on Mars, Venus, and Titan. Other planets allow us to test our understanding of geological and climate processes under a wide range of conditions. By combining observations from planetary exploration missions with image processing and numerical modeling, I investigate what controls the evolution of continental surfaces, including their planetary counterparts, and more specifically mass wasting (landslides, avalanches, debris flows), aeolian processes, and hydrology. 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.

I am part of the board of directors of Planetary Research Cooperative, which supports the dissemination of scientific research in planetary science, in particular community-led diamond open access journal Planetary Research.

Alongside my scientific activities, I have also been in charge of the Natural Hazard master program at IPGP/Université Paris Cité since 2023.

Recent Publications

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.
Spatial assessment of erosive processes in a badland catchment using diachronic LiDAR, Draix, Alpes de Haute-Provence, France

Y. Boukhari, A. Lucas, C. Le Bouteiller, S. Klotz, G. Chabaud, and S. Jacquemoud

Earth Surf. Dynam, 2025.

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With denudation rates locally exceeding one centimetre of weathered marl per year, i.e., more than 200 T ha−1 yr−1, the badlands of the Durance basin in the French Alps are one of the most eroding areas in the world. Since 1983, the Draix-Bléone Observatory has been using hydro-sedimentary stations to monitor several of these small, unmanaged badland catchments, where the hydrological response to seasonal storms is rapid and intense. In order to fingerprint soil loss in the 86 ha Laval basin, we combine outlet records with an analysis of airborne and UAV LiDAR data taken over a 6-year period, alongside a bulk density model to account for porosity variations with depth and drainage network reconstruction. This allows us to map mass movements and determine a sediment budget at catchment scale. We find that landslides and crest failures represent very active areas, accounting for at least 15 % of the watershed’s sediment budget throughout the period under study, despite affecting only 1 % of the bare surfaces. They contribute to the high erosion rates observed in low-drainage areas, with up to two centimetres of fresh marl lost per year, 3.5 times the average value on the rest of the bare slopes. Despite certain methodological constraints, our approach seems very promising at identifying local erosion hotspots, quantifying their contribution to the sediment budget and assessing sediment transport across geomorphological units. It could also be adapted to time series and more detailed identification of geomorphic processes in order to monitor the dynamics of badland catchments in a changing climate.
Unveiling tropical slow-moving landslides response to seasonality and extreme meteorological events using a combination of InSAR and optical imagery: the case study of Grand Eboulis (Réunion island)

Coline Hopquin, Eric Gayer, Laurent Michon, Antoine Lucas, Delphine Smittarello, Nicolas d’Oreye, and Nicolas Villeneuve

Geomorphology, 2025.

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Slow-moving landslides can cause significant infrastructure damage and casualties, making their monitoring a critical societal challenge. In the context of climate change and the projected intensification of rainfall extremes, understanding the response of slow-moving landslides to extreme meteorological conditions is essential. However, ground-based surveys are often difficult. In this study, we associate radar interferometry and optical imagery to investigate the dynamics of a remote tropical slow-moving landslide on Réunion Island, Grand Eboulis, and its relationship with precipitation regimes. Our approach enables us to retrieve (1) the bi-monthly dynamics of the Grand Eboulis landslide from cumulative displacement maps and ground deformation time series derived from Sentinel-1B images and (2) its multi-annual dynamics from optical aerial images. Between 2016 and 2021, the landslide moved eastward and downward at rates of up to 14 cm/yr and 9 cm/yr, respectively. Displacement was punctuated by periods of accelerated motion following an exceptionally wet season in mid-2018. In contrast, two slower periods coincided with the 2018 dry season combined with an exceptionally arid 2019, and with a prolonged drought in 2020. Additionally, between 2017 and 2019, shallow failures were mapped only in 2018 at the landslide front and were attributed to Cyclone Dumazile. This study suggests that slow-moving landslides may respond to seasonal contrasts by modulating their continuous displacement and to extreme events through shallow failures. The combined use of InSAR and remote sensed optical imagery proved to be efficient for studying such a type of events and can easily be widely applicable.
Evidence for Erosional Efficiency of Extreme Precipitation Events at a Multi-Decadal Time Scale

E. Gayer, A. Lucas, L. Michon, and M. Gougeon

Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 2025.

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Extreme precipitation events play a pivotal role in shaping Earth’s surface through their influences on hillslope processes (triggering mass-wasting events) and on transport capacity and dynamics of rivers. This study investigates the impact of such events on sediment transport using Réunion Island as a natural laboratory due to its intense tropical rainfall regime. Through photogrammetric techniques using historical aerial images, we reconstructed nine DEMs of the entire canyon bed of the ephemeral Rivière des Remparts spanning six decades. Based on differences in DEMs and sediment volume estimates combined with cosmogenic 3 He measurements, we assessed the spatio-temporal evolution of the entire canyon bed and the drainage of products from major landslides and rock avalanches between 1950 and 2011. Results indicate that 50.2 ± 8.4 Mm 3 (145.5 ± 24.4 Mt) of sediment was transported out of the watershed over 62 years via bed load waves. We modeled the flow dates and showed that such an export of material occurred during only 391 days over the 62 years, at an average rate of 0.13 ± 0.02 Mm 3 /day (0.37 ± 0.06 Mt/day). Our investigation confirms that sediment transport coincides with officially recorded extreme meteorological events such as cyclones. Moreover, our findings reveal that sediment transport predominantly occurs on days corresponding to highpercentile rank precipitation events, demonstrating that all transport is concentrated during these intense rainfall periods. Finally, we underscore the extremely fast conveyance of material from slopes to deep-sea fans, facilitated in Réunion by the absence of a coastal platform.
Mapping the surface characteristics of the Asal-Ghoubbet rift by massive inversion of the Hapke model on Pleiades multiangular images

D.T. Nguyen, S Jacquemoud, A. Lucas, S. Douté, C. Ferrari, S. Coustance, S. Marcq, and A. Meygret

Remote Sensing of Environment, 2025.

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A massive inversion of the Hapke model is carried out over the Asal-Ghoubbet rift (Republic of Djibouti) using high-resolution multiangular Pleiades images. This is the first time that such an inversion is performed on Earth over an entire image, previous studies having focused on planetary surfaces. This work addresses challenges such as atmospheric and geometrical corrections of these images to produce parameter maps. The use of fast Bayesian inversion significantly reduces computation times thanks to efficient exploration of the parameter space and leads to improved prediction. The parameters of the Hapke model are also interpreted in terms of surface physical properties, thanks to field measurements. Single scattering albedo is the parameter extracted with the greatest reliability, although its validation is still difficult due to the absence of a simple formula linking it to surface reflectance. Our study reveals a close relationship between photometric roughness and single scattering albedo, indicating that accurate extraction of the former is highly dependent on values of the latter, which must be below 0.8 for reliable estimation. Finally, the correlation between phase function parameters and grain properties depends on surface type and material properties.