Research
I am a multi-disciplinary climatologist whose research aims to understand climate variability, including both precipitation extremes and drought. Much of my research focuses on the mechanisms underlying climate-wildfire linkages, with a particular interest in the analysis of the impacts of anthropogenic climate change on fire weather conditions. My ultimate goal is to advance scientific knowledge in ways that are relevant to policy makers and also interesting to the public and other scientists.
Bio
After completing my PhD in climatology at the University of Aix-Marseille in France, I embarked for a post-doc at the University of Idaho, US where I have been examining megafires and how they might change with global warming. I then accepted a research associate position at Newcastle University, UK where I examined subdaily precipitation extremes in the framework of the INTENSE project.
Research experience
Research scientist (April 2017-present)
INRAE, France
Research associate (May 2015-April 2017)
Newcastle University, UK. Advisor: Hayley J. Fowler
Postdoctoral fellow (Sept 2012-May 2015)
University of Idaho, US. Advisor: John T. Abatzoglou
Education
Aix-Marseille University, France (July 2012)
Ph.D. in Earth System Sciences. Advisor: Vincent Moron
Aix-Marseille University, France (June 2008)
B.S. in Earth System Sciences.
Book
Outreach
Barbero, R., Girard, S., Opitz, T., Usseglio-Carleve, A. (2023). Les statistiques de l'extrême, Pour la Science. https://www.inria.fr/fr/numerique-progres-durable-environnement-pour-la-science
Galizia, L.F., Pimont, F., Ruffault, J., Barbero, R., Curt, T. (2022). Europe’s ‘pyroregions’: summer 2022 saw 20-year freak fires in regions that are historically immune, close to normal in fire prone areas, The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/europes-pyroregions-summer-2022-saw-20-year-freak-fires-in-regions-that-are-historically-immune-close-to-normal-in-fire-prone-areas-193770
Galizia, L.F., Pimont, F., Ruffault, J., Barbero, R., Curt, T. (2022). Incendies 2022 : Comprendre la dynamique des feux en Europe grâce aux « pyrorégions »Europe’s ‘pyroregions’: summer 2022 saw 20-year freak fires in regions that are historically immune, close to normal in fire prone areas, The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/incendies-2022-comprendre-la-dynamique-des-feux-en-europe-grace-aux-pyroregions-192221
Barbero, R., Martin, E., Arnaud, P., Javel, P. (2018). Changement et climatique et pluies extrêmes, ce que dit la science, The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/changement-climatique-et-pluies-extremes-ce-que-dit-la-science-103660
Publications
Please email to request.
[41] Galizia, L.F., Barbero, R., Rodrigues, M., Ruffault, J., Pimont, F., Curt, T. (2023). Global warming reshapes European pyroregions, Earth's Future, 11, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003182
[40] Cardil, A., Rodrigues, M., Tapia, M., Barbero, R., Ramirez, J., Stoof, C.R., Silva, C.A., Mohan, M., De Miguel, S. (2023). Climate teleconnections modulate global burned area, Nature Communications. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36052-8
[39] Pimont, F., Ruffault, J., Opitz, T., Fargeon, H., Barbero, R., Castel-Clavera, J., Martin St-Paul, N., Rigolot, E., Dupuy, J.L. (2022). Expansion, lengthening and intensification of fire activities under climate change in Southeastern France, International Journal of Wildland Fire. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF22103
[38] Galizia, L. F. C., Curt, T., Barbero, R., Rodrigues, M. (2021). Understanding fire regimes in Europe, International Journal of Wildland Fire, 31, 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF21081
[37] Pimont, F., Fargeon, H., Opitz, T., Ruffault, J., Barbero, R., Martin St-Paul, N., Rigolot, E., Rivière, M., Dupuy, JL. (2021). Prediction of regional wildfire activity in the probabilistic Bayesian framework of Firelihood, Ecological Applications. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.2316
[36] Ganteaume, A., Barbero, R., Jappiot, M., Maillé, E. (2021). Understanding future changes to fires in southern Europe and their impacts on the wildland-urban interface, Journal of Safety Science and Resilience, 2, 20-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnlssr.2021.01.001
[35] Fowler, H.J., Ali, H., Allan, R.P., Ban, N., Barbero, R., Berg, P., Blenkinsop, S., Cabi, N.S., Chan, S., Dale, M., Dunn, R.J.H., Ekström, M., Evans, J.P., Fosser, G., Golding, B., Guerreiro, S.B., Hegerl, G.C., Kahraman, H., Kendon, E.J., Lenderink, G., Lewis, E., Li, X., O'Gorman, P.A., Orr, H.G., Peat, K.L., Prein, A.F., Pritchard, D., Schär, C., Sharma, A., Stott, P.A., Villalobos-Herrera, R., Villarini, G., Wasko, C., Wehner, M.F., Westra, S., Whitford, A. (2021). Towards advancing scientific knowledge of climate change impacts on short-duration rainfall extremes, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Section A, 379: 20190542. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0542
[34] Lenderink, G., de Vries, H., Fowler, H. J., Barbero, R., van Left, B., van Meijgaard, E. (2021). Scaling and responses of extreme hourly precipitation in three different climate change experiments with a convection-permitting model, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Section A, 379: 20190544. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0544
[33] Moron, V., Barbero, R., Fowler, J. H., Mishra, V. (2021). Storm types in India: linking rainfall duration, spatial extent and intensity, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Section A, 379: 20200137. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0137
[32] Fowler, H. J., Lenderink, G., Prein, A., Westra, S., Allan, R., Ban, N., Barbero, R., Berg, P., Blenkinsop, S., Do, H. X., Guerreiro, S., Haerter, J., Kendon, E., Lewis, E., Schaer, C., Sharma, A., Villarini G., Wasko, C., Zhang, X. (2021). Anthropogenic intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes, Nature Reviews | Earth and Environment|. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-00128-6
[31] Galizia, L. F. C., Curt, T., Barbero, R., Rodrigues, M. (2021). Assessing the accuracy of remotely-sensed fires datasets across the Southwestern Mediterranean basin, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 21, 73–86. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-73-2021
[30] Magan, B., Kim, S., Wasko, C., Barbero, R., Moron, V., Nathan, R., Sharma, A. (2020). Impact of atmospheric circulation on the temperature-rainfall relationship in Australia, Environmental Research Letters, 15, 094098. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abab35
[29] Ruffault, J., Curt, T., Moron, V., Trigo, R. M., Koutsias, N., Pimont, F., Martin-StPaul, N. K., Barbero, R., Dupuy, J-L., Russo, A., Belhadj-Kheder, C. (2020). Increased likelihood of heat-induced large wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin, Scientific Reports, 10, 13790. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70069-z
[28] Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Pimont, F., Ruffault, J., & Curt, T. (2020). Attributing Increases in Fire Weather to Anthropogenic Climate Change Over France. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00104
[27] Li, X.-F., Blenkinsop, S., Barbero, R., Yu, J., Lewis, E., Lenderink, G., et al. (2020). Global distribution of the intensity and frequency of hourly precipitation and their responses to ENSO. Climate Dynamics, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00382-020-05258-7
[26] Fargeon, H., Pimont, F., Martin-StPaul, N. K., De Caceres, M., Ruffault, J., Barbero, R., Dupuy, J.-L. (2020). Projection of fire danger under climate change over France: where do the greatest uncertainties lie? Climatic Change. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02629-w
[25] Barbero, R., Fowler, H. J., Blenkinsop, S., Westra, S., Moron, V., Lewis, E., ... Mishra, V. (2019). A synthesis of hourly and daily precipitation extremes in different climatic regions. Weather and Climate Extremes, 26, 100219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2019.100219
[24] Ganteaume, A., Barbero, R. (2019). Contrasting large fire regimes in the French Mediterranean. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-1055-2019
[23] Barbero, R., Curt, T., Ganteaume, A., Maille, E., Jappiot, M., Bellet, A. (2019). Simulating the effects of weather and climate on large wildfires in France. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-441-2019
[22] Moron, V., Barbero, R., Evans, J. P., Westra, S., Fowler, H. J. (2019). Weather types and hourly to multi-day rainfall characteristics in Tropical Australia. Journal of Climate, 32, 3983–4011. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0384.1
[21] Lewis, E., Fowler, H. J., Alexander, L., Dunn, R., McClean, F., Barbero, R., ... Blenkinsop, S. (2019). GSDR: A global sub-daily rainfall dataset. Journal of Climate, 32, 4715–4729. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0143.1
[20] Abatzoglou, J. T., Williams, A. P., Barbero, R. (2019). Global emergence of anthropogenic climate change in fire weather indices. Geophysical Research Letters, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080959
[19] Lenderink, G., Barbero, R., Westra, S., Fowler, H. J. (2018). Reply to comments on “Temperature- extreme precipitation scaling: a two-way causality?” International Journal of Climatology, 8–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5799
[18] Blenkinshop, S., Fowler, H. J., Barbero, R., Chan, S. C., Guerreiro, S. B., Kendon, E., ... Tye, M. R. (2018). The INTENSE project: using observations and models to understand the past, present and future of sub-daily rainfall extremes. Advances in Science and Research, 15, 117–126. https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-15-117-2018
[17] Guerreiro, S. B., Fowler, H. J., Barbero, R., Westra, S., Lenderink, G., Blenkinsop, S., ... Li, X.-F. (2018). Detection of continental-scale intensification of hourly rainfall extremes. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0245-3
[16] Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Fowler, H. J. (2018). Contribution of large-scale midlatitude disturbances to hourly precipitation extremes in the United States. Climate Dynamics, 0(0), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4123-5
[15] Barbero, R., Westra, S., Lenderink, G., Fowler, H. J. (2017). Temperature-extreme precipitation scaling: a two-way causality? International Journal of Climatology. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5370
[14] Lenderink, G., Barbero, R., Loriaux, J. M., Fowler, H. J. (2017). Super-Clausius-Clapeyron scaling of extreme hourly convective precipitation and its relation to large-scale atmospheric conditions. Journal of Climate, 30(15). https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0808.1
[13] Barbero, R., Fowler, H. J., Lenderink, G., Blenkinsop, S. (2017). Is the intensification of precipitation extremes with global warming better detected at hourly than daily resolutions? Geophysical Research Letters, 44(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071917
[12] Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Hegewisch, K. C. (2017). Evaluation of Statistical Downscaling of North American Multimodel Ensemble Forecasts over the Western United States. Weather and Forecasting, 32(1), 327–341. https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-16-0117.1
[11] Moron, V., Barbero, R., Robertson, A. W. (2016). Subseasonal-to-interannual variability of rainfall over new Caledonia (SW pacific). Climate Dynamics, 46(7–8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2712-0
[10] Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Brown, T. J. (2015). Seasonal reversal of the influence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation on very large wildfire occurrence in the interior northwestern United States. Geophysical Research Letters, 42(9). https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063428
[9] Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Larkin, N. K., Kolden, C. A., Stocks, B. (2015). Climate change presents increased potential for very large fires in the contiguous United States. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24(7). https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15083
[8] Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Kolden, C. A., Hegewisch, K. C., Larkin, N. K., Podschwit, H. (2015). Multi-scalar influence of weather and climate on very large-fires in the Eastern United States. International Journal of Climatology, 35(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4090
[7] Abatzoglou, J. T., Barbero, R. (2014). Observed and projected changes in absolute temperature records across the contiguous United States. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(18). https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061441
[6] Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Steel, E. A., Larkin, N. K. (2014). Modeling very large-fire occurrences over the continental United States from weather and climate forcing. Environmental Research Letters, 9(12). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/12/124009
[5] Abatzoglou, J. T., Barbero, R., Wolf, J. W., Holden, Z. A. (2014). Tracking interannual streamflow variability with drought indices in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 15(5). https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-13-0167.1
[4] Abatzoglou, J. T., Barbero, R., Nauslar, N. J. (2013). Diagnosing santa ana winds in Southern California with synoptic-scale analysis. Weather and Forecasting, 28(3). https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-13-00002.1
[3] Moron, V., Barbero, R., Mangeas, M., Borgniet, L., Curt, T., Berti-Equille, L. (2013). Prediction of september-december fire in New Caledonia (Southwestern Pacific) using July Nino-4 sea surface temperature index. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 52(3). https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-12-03.1
[2] Barbero, R., Moron, V. (2011). Seasonal to decadal modulation of the impact of El Nino-Southern Oscillation on New Caledonia (SW Pacific) rainfall (1950-2010). Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 116(23). https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016577
[1] Barbero, R., Moron, V., Mangeas, M., Despinoy, M., Heely, C. (2011). Relationships between MODIS and ATSR fires and atmospheric variability in New Caledonia (SW Pacific). Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 116(21). https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD015915
Selected talks and seminars
Lenderink, G., Fowler H. J., Barbero, R. (2020). Using a dew point temperature scaling framework to interpret changes in hourly extremes from convection-permitting model simulations. European Geosciences Union. Vienna, Austria, May 2020
Barbero, R., Fowler, H. J., Blenkinsop, S., Westra, S., Moron, V., Lewis, E., . . . Mishra, V. (2020). A synthesis of hourly and daily precipitation extremes in different climatic regions. Royal Society meeting (Invited speaker). London, United-Kingdom, February 2020
Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Williams, A. P. (2019). Emergence of anthropogenic climate change in fire weather indices: from global to local scale in Francee. Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference. Marseille, France, April 2019
Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J. T., Williams, A. P. (2019). Climate change and fires: regional and global analyses. Workshop on Climate Extremes: New Ideas for Quantifying Changes and Improving Resilience. Riederalp, Switzerland, March 2019
Barbero, R., Ganteaume, A., Curt, T., Jappiot, M. (2018). Simulating the potential for large wildfires in France. 8th International Conference on Forest Fire Research. Coimbra, Portugal, November 2018
Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J.T. (2018). Regional changes to extreme fires in forested and non-forested systems. 8th International Conference on Forest Fire Research. Coimbra, Portugal, November 2018
Barbero, R., Guerreiro, S., Fowler, Lewis, E., Blenkinsop, S., Lenderink, G., Westra, S. (2018). Detection of continental-scale intensification in hourly rainfall extremes. International conference Climate Change and Water. Tours, France, February 2018
Fowler, H.J., Lewis, E., Guerreiro, S., Blenkinsop, S., Barbero, R., Westra, S., Lenderink, G., Li, X. (2017). Global intensification in observed short-duration rainfall extremes. American Geophysical Union. San Francisco, USA, December 2017
Lenderink, G., Barbero, R., Loriaux, J., Fowler, H. (2017). Super Clausius-Clapeyron scaling of extreme hourly precipitation and its relation to large-scale atmospheric conditions. European Geosciences Union. Wien, Austria, April 2017
Fowler, H., Kendon, E., Chan, S., Barbero, R., Blenkinsop, S., Lenderink, G., Roberts, N., Lewis, E., Guerreiro, S., Li, X., Westra, S. (2017). Understanding changes in short-duration heavy rainfall under global warming: The GEWEX cross-cut on sub-daily rainfall extremes (INTENSE). European Geosciences Union. Wien, Austria, April 2017
Guerreiro, S., Barbero, R., Fowler, H., Lewis, E., Li, X. Blenkinsop, S. (2017). Observed changes in hourly and daily rainfall extremes in the USA. European Geosciences Union. Wien, Austria, April 2017
Barbero, R., Lewis, E., Westra, S., Fowler, H., Lenderink, G. (2017). Global intensification in observed short-duration rainfall extremes. European Geosciences Union. Wien, Austria, April 2017
Fowler, H.J., Lewis, E., Blenkinsop, S.,Guerreiro, S., Li, X., Barbero, R., Chan, S., Lenderink, G., Westra, S. (2017). A global dataset of sub-daily rainfall indices. European Geoscience Union. Wien, Austria, April 2017
Barbero, R., Fowler, Blenkinsop, S., Lenderink, G. (2016). Are hourly precipitation extremes increasing faster than daily precipitation extremes? European Geosciences Union. Wien, Austria, April 2016
Hewett, C. J., Fowler, H.J., Kendon, E.J., Chan, S., Blenkinsop, S., Roberts, N.M., Lewis, E., Barbero, R., Li, X., Guerreiro, S., Lenderink, G. (2016). Understanding changes in short-duration rainfall extremes under global warming: The GEWEX cross-cut on sub-daily rainfall extremes (INTENSE). American Geophysical Union. San Francisco, USA, December 2016
Barbero, R. (on behalf of H. Fowler) (2015). INTENSE: GHP/GEWEX cross-cut on sub-daily precipitation. Global Energy and Water Exchanges Project (GEWEX). Hydroclimatology Panel (GHP) Meeting. Entebbe, Uganda, November 2015
Podschwit, H.P., Barbero, R., Larkin, N.S., Steel, A. (2014). Building a model to predict megafires using a machine learning approach. American Geosciences Union. San Francisco, USA, December 2014
Abatzoglou, J.T., Barbero, R., Larkin, N.S., McKenzie, D., Steel, E.A., Bachelet, D., Sheehan, T. (2014). Will climate change increase the occurrence of very large fires in the Northwestern United States? 5th Annual Pacific Northwest Climate Science Conference. Seattle, USA, September 2014
Abatzoglou, J.T., Barbero, R., Stocks, B., Kolden C., Wotton, M., Larkin, N.S. (2014). Atmospheric drivers of daily variations in fire growth of very large wildfires. Large Wildland Fires. Missoula, USA, May 2014
Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J.T., Kolden C. (2014). Modeling very large-fire occurrences over the continetal United States from weather and climate forcing. Large Wildland Fires. Missoula, USA, May 2014
Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J.T., Kolden C., Larkin, N.K. (2013). The recipe for megafires in Eastern US: the role of the temporal scales. 10th Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorology. Bowling Green, USA, October 2013
Barbero, R., Abatzoglou, J.T., Kolden C., Nauslar, N.J. (2012). An objective examination of Santa Ana winds events and wildfires in Southern California. 5th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress. Portland, USA, December 2012
Barbero, R., Moron, V. (2012). Seasonality and decadal variability of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific events teleconnections in the SW Pacific. 10th International Conference on Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography. Noumea, New Caledonia, April 2012
Barbero, R., Moron, V. (2011). Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific ENSO events impacts in New Caledonia and Southwest Pacific (1950-2009). European Geosciences Union. Wien, Austria, April 2011
Barbero, R., Moron, V.,Mangeas, M., Despinoy, M., Hely, C. (2010). Climate variability and hotspots fires in New Caledonia: diagnostic approach and potential predictability. European Geosciences Union. Wien, Austria, May 2010
