As international discussions on SRM field trials and their governance continue to develop, these two publications provide new insights into how SRM-related field trials might be evaluated and regulated.

The first study presents a literature review of the main experiments carried out over the last few decades and identifies the scientific and technical characteristics that influence their governance. Key parameters include scientific justification, the ability to measure the effects of the experiment, associated uncertainties, the reversibility of the disturbances created, and the conditions for halting an experiment if necessary.

La seconde étude dessine une typologie des expériences de terrain potentielles et montre qu’elles ne constituent pas une catégorie homogène. Certaines visent à étudier des processus atmosphériques fondamentaux, tandis que d’autres peuvent se rapprocher davantage du développement technologique. Les auteurs proposent une typologie permettant de distinguer différents types d’expériences selon leur échelle, leurs objectifs scientifiques et leurs implications en matière de gouvernance, dans le cadre des traités et conventions existants.

Ensemble, ces travaux soulignent qu’une gouvernance efficace de la recherche expérimentale sur le SRM nécessite une approche proportionnée et adaptée aux caractéristiques spécifiques de chaque expérience. Ils contribuent ainsi aux discussions internationales sur la manière d’encadrer une recherche expérimentale encore largement exploratoire et controversée mais susceptible d’avoir d’importantes implications scientifiques, environnementales et sociétales.

List of previous field experiments and activities in the field of solar radiation management (SRM). The number of experiments has increased since their launch in 2008 and is expected to continue to grow in the future. ‘Independent SAI activities’ refer to operations launched by private entities that do not rely on peer-reviewed protocols, lack appropriate measurement instruments or are not subject to transparent monitoring, and are therefore not considered formal experiments in this typology. These cases are included solely for comparison purposes. CLOUDLAB is not presented by its researchers as an SRM experiment, but is included here as a process study related to CCT/MCT due to its methodological relevance. SAI, stratospheric aerosol injection; MCB, marine cloud brightening; CCT/MCT, cirrus and mixed-phase cloud thinning. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cms/asset/9c08de5f-9e8d-4326-8d9a-9a0e7d50cef8/eft270436-fig-0001-m.jpg

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Source
Redmond Roche, B. H., Hernandez-Galindo, I., Määttänen, A., Moore, J. C., Boucher, O., Dollner, B. M., et al. (2026). Differentiating solar radiation modification field experiments: Scale, technical characteristics, and governance implications. Earth’s Future, 14, e2025EF007303. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF007303. Utilisé sous licence CC BY 4.0.

References

Article 1 (revue des expériences passées)
Hernandez-Galindo, I., Määttänen, A., Redmond Roche, B. H., Boucher, O., Irvine, P. J., & Moore, J. C. (2026). Past field experiments of solar radiation modification: A review of the scientific and technical aspects for governance. Earth’s Future, 14, e2025EF007254. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF007254

Article 2 (typologie des expériences futures)
Redmond Roche, B. H., Hernandez-Galindo, I., Määttänen, A., Moore, J. C., Boucher, O., Dollner, B. M., et al. (2026). Differentiating solar radiation modification field experiments: Scale, technical characteristics, and governance implications. Earth’s Future, 14, e2025EF007303. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF007303

Contacts

– Anni Määttänen, LATMOS-IPSL • 
– Ivan Hernandez-Galindo, LATMOS-IPSL • 
– H. Redmond Roche, University College London •