Post-Doctoral Scientist in Atmospheric Inverse Modeling — Penn State Meteorology and Atmospheric Science

Applications are invited for a two-year post-doctoral research position to join a dynamic team of researchers on modeling greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere by assimilating satellite and in situ measurements of those GHGs.

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Date posted

Apr. 16, 2024 3:00 pm

Application deadline

May 16, 2024 5:00 pm

Organization

ESSIC at the University of Maryland

Location

Job description

Applications are invited for a two-year post-doctoral research position to join a dynamic team of researchers on modeling greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere by assimilating satellite and in situ measurements of those GHGs. Supported by the US Inter-agency Greenhouse Gas Center, the researchers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland are developing a state-of-the-art global atmospheric inverse model to provide regularly updated surface GHG flux estimates by assimilating data from current and upcoming satellite and in situ sensors. This model will build upon the existing TM5 4DVAR framework. 

Project Summary: 

• Several additions and improvements to an existing atmospheric inverse model are planned during this project:
• Improve transport fidelity by running atmospheric transport at higher resolutions. 
• Multi-decadal flux estimates using parallelization techniques from published literature.
• Simulate transport with different meteorological reanalyses to quantify transport model errors.
• Implement state-of-the-art optimization procedures from mathematical literature.
• Improve error quantification by implementing newly published algorithms such as random matrices.
• Implement clustering algorithms on estimated variables to maximally utilize available information.
• Add isotopic constraints by modeling GHG isotopologues.
• Automate inversion and validation workflow.
• Port inversion framework to a cloud for on-demand estimation. 

The improved inverse model will be run for the period 2000-present to provide annually updated CO₂ and CH₄ flux estimates and uncertainties consistent with the best available CO₂ and CH₄ atmospheric measurements. The work is primarily a collaboration between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the University of Maryland. During the project the post-doc will also work with scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado Boulder. 

Required and Desired Skills: A PhD in applied mathematics, atmospheric or oceanic science, remote sensing, physics, computer science, chemistry, or related technical discipline is required. Fluency in basic linear algebra and calculus is highly desirable. Expertise in at least one compiled (such as C, Fortran, C++…) and one scripting (such as R, Python, Perl…) language is required. 

The candidate will be appointed as a post-doctoral scientist or assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland at College Park, depending on previous experience.

 Note that candidate will be required to pass a federal background clearance for access to NASA facilities for this work, which limits position primarily to US citizens, permanent residents, and certain visa holders who are currently in the US.