Leadership Transition at the ACTRIS Data Centre: Welcoming Prof. Sebastien Payan

ACTRIS extends heartfelt thanks to Patrice Henry, who is stepping down from his role as Deputy of the ACTRIS Data Centre (DC), a position he has held since its inception. Patrice has played a central role in shaping the ACTRIS Data Centre’s structure and operations, participating in more than 55 board meetings since 2022, in addition to yearly workshops, Central Facility leader meetings, ACTRIS Week events, and countless other activities. His positive spirit, technical insight, and unwavering commitment have been vital to the successful implementation and development of the ACTRIS Data Centre.

Professor Sebastien Payan from Sorbonne University in Paris has been selected as his successor. Payan is also the head of AERIS and deputy of the French Terra Data E-Infrastructure. He has a Ph.D. degree in molecular physics and geoscience from the University Pierre & Marie Curie in Paris, and is a full-time professor at the Physics and the geosciences departments at Sorbonne University in Paris since 2011. His research interests cover several instrumental and theoretical fields related to atmospheric composition, from hyperspectral imagery to urban in situ measurements. His activities in the field of atmospheric sounding relate as much to geophysical measurement as to the validation or development of new experiments (mainly space or balloon borne), as to the analysis of observations in terms of spectral processing and physico-chemical modelling, contributing to national and European environmental efforts. Payan is also a former member of the research ethics committee of Sorbonne University, and is also a scientific secretary of the specialised Oceans Atmosphere committee of the INSU CNRS.

We warmly welcome Prof. Payan to the ACTRIS Data Centre team and look forward to a fruitful collaboration.

And to Patrice Henry: thank you for your dedication and your lasting contributions to ACTRIS.