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It is not easy to compartmentalise François Durand-Dastès’ work, yet it is safe to say that tropical climates are one of his preferred study objects, and the first one he worked on. We aim at examining how the work of François Durand-Dastès has contributed to French research in tropical climatology, a research field whose evolution we will also detail. The article is structured around two elements: tropical climate characteristics, and François Durand-Dastès’ contribution to the methodological and epistemological renewal in geographical climatology, based on tropical examples. This contribution will be seen from three angles: climate scales, climate systems, and the use of quantitative methods.