Publications and communications of Nicolas Ghilain

Hachez, J., Ghilain, N., Kök, A., & Coppitters, D. (May 2026). Climate-driven load shifts and the optimal design of district heating and cooling systems: Planning energy supply for a warming century. Applied Energy, 410, 127585. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2026.127585

Van Weverberg, K., Neutens, N., De Corte, S., Pastoors, A., Calderan, S., Ghilain, N., Reinoso-Rondinel, R., Reyniers, M., Overeem, A., Van de Vijver, H., Van Schaeybroeck, B., De Wit, B., & Uijlenhoet, R. (2026). Country-wide rainfall estimates from a commercial microwave link network in Belgium. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences.

Cavitte, M. G. P., Goosse, H., Dalaiden, Q., & Ghilain, N. (03 December 2025). Brief communication: Annual variability of the atmospheric circulation at large spatial scale reconstructed from a data assimilation framework cannot explain local East Antarctic ice rises' surface mass balance records. The Cryosphere, 19 (12), 6483-6492. doi:10.5194/tc-19-6483-2025

Dethinne, T., Ghilain, N., Kittel, C., Lecart, B., Fettweis, X., & Jonard, F. (2025). Assessing Regional Climate Model Sensitivity to Vegetation Dynamics Informed by Remote Sensing. ORBi-University of Liège. https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/337051. doi:10.5194/egusphere-2025-3907

Brajkovic, J., Fettweis, X., Noël, B., Vyver, H. V. D., Ghilain, N., Archambeau, P., Pirotton, M., & Doutreloup, S. (June 2025). Increased intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events in Belgium as simulated by the regional climate model MAR. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 59, 102399. doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102399

Brajkovic, J., Fettweis, X., Ghilain, N., & Doutreloup, S. (18 April 2025). Past and future evolution of synoptic weather patterns leading to extreme precipitation events in Belgium. Linking synoptic scale events to their local impacts.  [Paper presentation]. EGU 2025. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-9805

Dethinne, T., Ghilain, N., Lecart, B., Fettweis, X., & Jonard, F. (28 March 2025). Sensitivity of the Regional Climate Model MAR to Vegetation Dynamics in Forested Areas [Poster presentation]. EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienne, Austria. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-11286

Grailet, J.-F., Hogan, R. J., Ghilain, N., Bolsée, D., Fettweis, X., & Grégoire, M. (26 March 2025). Inclusion of the ECMWF ecRad radiation scheme (v1.5.0) in the MAR (v3.14), regional evaluation for Belgium, and assessment of surface shortwave spectral fluxes at Uccle. Geoscientific Model Development, 18 (6), 1965-1988. doi:10.5194/gmd-18-1965-2025

Ghilain, N., Grailet, J.-F., Dethinne, T., Strebelle, J., Moutier, W., Fettweis, X., & van Schaeybroek, B. (28 January 2025). CM-SAF datasets uses for verification of Belgian Regional Climate Models: case studies [Poster presentation]. EUMETSAT Climate Monitoring SAF User workshop, Bonn, Germany.

Van Schaeybroeck, B., Vandelanotte, K., Ghilain, N., Van de Vyver, H., Serras, F., Van Lipzig, N., & Termonia, P. (20 January 2025). GCM selection for dynamical downscaling of extreme rainfall changes over Belgium [Poster presentation]. European Geophysical Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7207

Marchi, S., Jonard, M., Andre, F., Ghilain, N., & Goosse, H. (November 2024). QUEL CLIMAT FUTUR POUR NOS FORÊTS ? Silva Belgica, 5/2024, 30-37.

Cavitte, M. G. P., Goosse, H., Dalaiden, Q., & Ghilain, N. (2024). Brief Communication: annual large-scale atmospheric circulation reconstructed from a data assimilation framework cannot explain local East Antarctic ice rises’ surface mass balance records. ORBi-University of Liège. https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/325072. doi:10.5194/egusphere-2024-3140

Van Weverberg, K., Ghilain, N., Goudenhoofdt, E., Barbier, M., Koistinen, E., Doutreloup, S., Van Schaeybroeck, B., Frankl, A., & Field, P. (2024). Sensitivity of simulated rain intensity and kinetic energy to aerosols and warm‐rain microphysics during the extreme event of July 2021 in Belgium. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. doi:10.1002/qj.4761

Dethinne, T., Ghilain, N., Fettweis, X., & Jonard, F. (15 March 2024). Predicting the response of forest ecosystems to climate extremes using MODIS data in the Regional Climate Model MAR during the 2018 drought in Belgium [Poster presentation]. Belgian Geographers Days, Namur, Belgium.

Brajkovic, J., Doutreloup, S., Ghilain, N., Archambeau, P., Pirotton, M., Vandelnotte, K., Serras, F., & Fettweis, X. (2024). Will extreme precipitation events like July 2021 become more frequent in the future? Insights from Belgium using MAR . Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9460

Ghilain, N., Dethinne, T., Van Schaeybroeck, B., Fettweis, X., Hamid, R., Verma, A., Vandelanotte, A., Van Weverberg, K., Grailet, J.-F., Brajkovic, J., Baudewyn, M., Denis, T., Doutreloup, S., François, L., De Pue, J., Jonard, F., & Termonia, P. (19 February 2024). Towards a mini-ensemble of Regional Earth System Models for climate services over Belgium [Poster presentation]. Belgian Science for Climate Action Conference, Brussels, Belgium.

Fettweis, X., Ambroise B., David P.M, Ghilain, N., Paul P., & Wuest C. (December 2023). Évolution actuelle (1960-2021) de l’enneigement dans les Vosges à l’aide du modèle régional du climat MAR. Bulletin de la Société Géographique de Liège, 80 (2023/1). doi:10.25518/0770-7576.7049

Brajkovic, J., Van De Vyver, H., Doutreloup, S., Ghilain, N., & Fettweis, X. (15 May 2023). Simulation of future extreme rainfall events over Belgium with a focus on the Vesdre valley using the regional climate model MAR [Poster presentation]. EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6507

Ghilain, N., Vannitsem, S., Dalaiden, Q., Goosse, H., De Cruz, L., & Wei, W. (26 April 2022). Large ensemble of downscaled historical daily snowfall from an earth system model to 5.5 km resolution over Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Earth System Science Data, 14 (4), 1901 - 1916. doi:10.5194/essd-14-1901-2022

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., Barrios, J. M., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (17 April 2020). Water interception by canopies for remote sensing based evapotranspiration models. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 41 (8), 2934 - 2945. doi:10.1080/01431161.2019.1698072

Martins, J. P. A., Trigo, I. F., Ghilain, N., Jimenez, C., Göttsche, F.-M., Ermida, S. L., Olesen, F.-S., Gellens-Meulenberghs, F., & Arboleda, A. (December 2019). An all-weather land surface temperature product based on MSG/SEVIRI observations. Remote Sensing, 11 (24), 3044. doi:10.3390/rs11243044

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., Batelaan, O., Ardö, J., Trigo, I., Barrios, J.-M., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2019). A new retrieval algorithm for soil moisture index from thermal infrared sensor on-board geostationary satellites over Europe and Africa and its validation. Remote Sensing, 11 (17), 1968. doi:10.3390/rs11171968

Barrios, J. M., Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., Sachs, T., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (02 December 2018). Daily evapotranspiration at sub-kilometre spatial resolution by combining observations from geostationary and polar-orbit satellites. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 39 (23), 8984 - 9003. doi:10.1080/01431161.2018.1504340

Verbeiren, B., Ghilain, N., Gellens-Meulenberghs, F., van Griensven, A., Hoffmann, L., Mallick, K., Meire, P., van der Kwast, H., & Barrios, J. M. (2018). High-resolution modelling and monitoring of water and energy transfers in wetland ecosystems (HiWET) [Paper presentation]. BEOdays 2018, Barvaux, Belgium.

Barrios, J. M., Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2017). Evaluating an energy balance setting and random forest-based downscaling for the estimation of daily et at sub-kilometer spatial resolution. In 2017 9th International Workshop on the Analysis of Multitemporal Remote Sensing Images, MultiTemp 2017. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. doi:10.1109/Multi-Temp.2017.8035226

Petropoulos, G. P., Ireland, G., Lamine, S., Griffiths, H. M., Ghilain, N., Anagnostopoulos, V., North, M. R., Srivastava, P. K., & Georgopoulou, H. (July 2016). Operational evapotranspiration estimates from SEVIRI in support of sustainable water management. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 49, 175 - 187. doi:10.1016/j.jag.2016.02.006

Ghilain, N. (2016). Continental Scale Monitoring of Subdaily and Daily Evapotranspiration Enhanced by the Assimilation of Surface Soil Moisture Derived from Thermal Infrared Geostationary Data. In Satellite Soil Moisture Retrieval: Techniques and Applications. Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803388-3.00016-4

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2015). Continental scale monitoring of (sub-)daily evapotranspiration enhanced by the assimilation of geostationary data [Poster presentation]. GEWEX ESA workshop on Earth Observation of the water cycle, Frascati, Italy.

Ghilain, N. (2014). Monitoring evapotranspiration at continental scale: enhanced contribution from geostationary satellites [Doctoral thesis, VUB - Vrije Universiteit Brussel]. ORBi-University of Liège. https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/343196

Ghilain, N., De Roo, F., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2014). Evapotranspiration monitoring with Meteosat Second Generation satellites: improvement opportunities from moderate spatial resolution satellites for vegetation. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 35 (7), 2654 - 2670. doi:10.1080/01431161.2014.883093

Ghilain, N., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2014). Assessing the impact of land cover map resolution and geolocation accuracy on evapotranspiration simulations by a land surface model. Remote Sensing Letters, 5 (5), 491 - 499. doi:10.1080/2150704X.2014.927081

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2013). EVAPOTRANSPIRATION MONITORING IN SEMI-ARID AREAS USING MSG/SEVIRI DERIVED DATA: IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE USE OF LEAF AREA INDEX AND LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE [Paper presentation]. 2013 EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference, Vienna, Austria.

Gellens-Meulenberghs, F., Ghilain, N., & Arboleda, A. (2012). Land surface evapotranspiration as seen from Meteosat Second Generation Satellites: LSA-SAF developments and perspectives. International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 1018 - 1021. doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2012.6351228

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., Sepulcre-Cantò, G., Batelaan, O., Ardö, J., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (26 November 2012). Improving evapotranspiration in a land surface model using biophysical variables derived from MSG/SEVIRI satellite. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 16 (8), 2567 - 2583. doi:10.5194/hess-16-2567-2012

Ghilain, N. (2012). Monitoring Evapotranspiration at Sub-Kilometer Scale: Downscaling MSG/SEVIRI Images Using Moderate Resolution Remote Sensing Derived Data. Advances in Geosciences, 466-474.

Arboleda, A., Ghilain, N., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2011). The EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF) Product User Manual Evapotranspiration (ET) PRODUCTS: LSA-16 (MET), LSA-17 (DMET). (SAF/LAND/RMI/ PUM_MET/2.4). https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/341883

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2011). The EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF): Validation Report Evapotranspiration (ET). (SAF/LAND/RMI/VR/07). https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/341875

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (14 March 2011). Evapotranspiration modelling at large scale using near-real time MSG SEVIRI derived data. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 15 (3), 771 - 786. doi:10.5194/hess-15-771-2011

Arboleda, A., Ghilain, N., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2011). EUMETSAT’S LSA-SAF EVAPOTRANSPIRATION: COMPARISONS OF OPERATIONAL PRODUCT TO OBSERVATIONS AND MODELS AT HYDROLOGICAL BASINS SCALE [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the EUMETSAT conference 2011.

Trigo, I. F., Dacamara, C. C., Viterbo, P., Roujean, J.-L., Olesen, F., Barroso, C., Camacho-De-Coca, F., Carrer, D., Freitas, S. C., García-Haroj, J., Geiger, B., Gellens-Meulenberghs, F., Ghilain, N., Meliá, J., Pessanha, L., Siljamo, N., & Arboleda, A. (2011). The satellite application facility for land surface analysis. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 32 (10), 2725 - 2744. doi:10.1080/01431161003743199

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2010). SAF for Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF) Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document Meteosat Second Generation Evapotranspiration (MET) Product Daily MET (DMET) Product. (SAF/LAND/RMI/ ATBD_MET/1.2). https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/341879

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (April 2009). Use of geostationary satellite imagery in optical and thermal bands for the estimation of soil moisture status and land evapotranspiration [Paper presentation]. EGU General Assembly 2009, Vienna, Austria.

Ghilain, N., Arboleda, A., & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (2007). IMPROVEMENT OF A SURFACE ENERGY BALANCE MODEL BY THE USE OF MSG-SEVIRI DERIVED VEGETATION PARAMETERS. In Conference Proceedings EUMETSAT Users conference 2007. Darmstadt, Germany: EUMETSAT.

Arboleda, A., Ghilain, N.* , & Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. (23 September 2005). THE LSA-SAF EVAPOTRANSPIRATION PRODUCT: FIRST RESULTS WITH MSG [Paper presentation]. 2005 EUMETSAT meteorological satellite data user´s conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
* These authors have contributed equally to this work.