For the 30^th anniversary of the publication of the seminal paper « Noilhan and Planton » in Monthly Weather Review describing what will become the Interactions Surface Biosphere Atmosphere (ISBA) scheme, a tribute to the scientific career of Joël Noilhan, who sadly passed way on the 31st October 2010, will be paid.

Joël was internationally known for the ISBA scheme that is widely used in meteorological models by the scientific community. He was involved in many field campaigns for improving the understanding and modelling of interactions between land surfaces and the boundary layer. He initiated activities towards the coupling between land surface and hydrological models leading to the operational river discharge suite SAFRAN-ISBA-MODCOU. He wrote more than 90 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and supervised the research activities of many PhD students. His involvement and leadership in national and international scientific committees were unanimously appreciated, together with the quality of his human relationships.

Presentations on various aspects of his successful research activities with a pionneering inspiration will be given by scientists who have collaborated with him, and also by those who have been trained and supervised by him.