What if paragliders could become tools for observing the atmosphere?

In a new preprint, César Hernández Aguayo, Matthieu Cristelli and Michael Benzaquen turn paragliding flight tracks into scientific data. Their aim is to better understand thermal updrafts—the rising currents of warm air that pilots use to gain altitude.

These phenomena remain difficult to observe: weather balloons are launched from a limited number of stations, while measurement campaigns are intermittent and geographically restricted. Flight tracks recorded by paragliders provide a complementary source of observations.

More than 110,000 flights analysed

The researchers analysed 110,730 flights across France, identifying 1.47 million climbing phases. Using these trajectories, they estimated the height, strength and turbulence levels of thermals, then compared their observations with meteorological data from the ERA5 dataset.

Their analysis highlights three key findings. First, terrain plays a decisive role: thermals reach greater heights and provide stronger updrafts in mountainous areas than over plains, regardless of the season or time of day.

Second, the observations align with theoretical predictions. In mid-mountain areas, around midday during the warm season, the height reached increases by 124 metres for every degree of difference between air temperature and dew point, compared with the 125 metres predicted by classical cloud-base theory.

Finally, the depth of the atmospheric boundary layer—the lowest part of the atmosphere, influenced by the Earth’s surface—is the best predictor of thermal height and strength across all the terrains and seasons studied.

The Econophysics Lab: bridging disciplines to understand complex systems

Led by Michael Benzaquen and based in Paris, the Econophysics Lab conducts research at the intersection of statistical physics, quantitative finance, economics and complex systems. Its approach combines theoretical modelling and data analysis to investigate a wide range of topics, including market dynamics, inequality, social dynamics and environmental challenges.

The laboratory collaborates with organisations including Capital Fund Management (CFM) and the Institut Louis Bachelier, within an ecosystem bringing together researchers and experts in quantitative finance and modelling.

This preprint illustrates the breadth of its research: by drawing on data shared by paragliding pilots, it opens up new possibilities for observing and understanding the atmosphere.

Read the preprint : https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00241
Discover the Econophysics Lab : https://www.econophysix.com/

‍