Physical Review Journal Club: Laboratory Modeling of Moist Convection Using a Reactive Fluid
Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 12 p.m. ET
Video Link
The Physical Review Journal Club returns July 29 with author Valentin Dorel (CNRS and Aix-Marseille Université) to discuss their recently published paper “Laboratory Modeling of Moist Convection Using a Reactive Fluid.” Following the presentation, the authors will answer questions in a live Q&A moderated by Physical Review Fluids board member Dr. Daphné Lemasquerier (University of St Andrews). Registration is free and a video recording will be provided to all registrants.
In Earth’s atmosphere, latent heat is released by condensation powers, towering cumulonimbi, and deep tropical storms. Replicating this “moist convection” in the lab has always been challenging. Dorel and colleagues introduce a novel analogue: a tank of indicator-laden fluid whose color (and opacity, and heat absorption) switch from transparent yellow to opaque blue when an electrochemical reaction makes it basic. A sodium lamp overhead then preferentially heats the blue layer, mimicking the localized heat release of condensation. As the blue “cloud layer” thickens, striking interfacial instabilities sprout and evolve.
The team combines high-speed imaging, linear stability analysis, and direct numerical simulations to map how the instability wavelength changes with the strength of the reactive heating. They reveal the early nonlinear dynamics that seed fully developed moist convection. This tabletop approach opens a new experimental window on geophysical and planetary atmospheres, bridging the gap between small-scale lab plumes and kilometre-scale clouds.
Read ahead:
Laboratory Modeling of Moist Convection Using a Reactive Fluid
Valentin Dorel, Daniel Lecoanet, Michael Le Bars
Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, 043104
