An external view of the Met Office building at night.

Dr François-Xavier Bocquet

Areas of expertise

  • Ocean surface wave modelling
  • Wave-atmosphere interactions
  • Wave-ocean interactions
  • Solar wind modelling
  • Coronal mass ejections

Current activities

François-Xavier works on the inclusion of ocean surface wave effects into a global coupled ocean-atmosphere system, focusing on the effect of sea-surface roughness on the atmospheric boundary layer and the effect of waves on ocean circulation and thermal structure. The modelling framework consists of the Met Office's Unified Model, the ocean model NEMO, as well as the wave model WAVEWATCH III®.

François-Xavier transitions academic science research to operational Space Weather products. He is involved in improving solar wind predictions and developing probabilistic forecasting techniques for coronal mass ejections.

Career background

François-Xavier has worked in the Ocean Forecasting R&D group since joining the Met Office in 2007. He has also recently joined the Space Weather R&D team on a part-time basis. He has completed a PhD in Solar Physics in St Andrews, with a PhD focused on the use of relaxation codes to study the evolution of coronal magnetic fields. Prior to this, he completed a degree of Ingénieur Civil Physicien (MEng) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.