[ES_JOBS_NET] Postdoctoral Position in Data Assimilation Available at the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes - UCSD/Scripps Institution of Oceanography

[Wilson, Anna]

The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Location: La Jolla, CA.
Deadline: Available immediately.  Applications will be considered until position is filled.  Preference will be given to applications received by 31 July 2016

The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, (CW3E; cw3e.ucsd.edu) is a research and applications center established in 2013 at Scripps Institution of Oceanography by its Director, Dr. F. Martin Ralph.  CW3E focuses on the physical understanding, observations, weather predictions, seasonal outlooks and climate projections of extreme weather and water events to support effective policies and practices to improve resilience in the Western U.S.  Funding for this set of Postdoctoral positions is in place from several federal, state and local agencies, with a major emphasis on the unique science and applications needs associated with water supply and flood risk in the Western United States.  CW3E carries out its goals with a diverse network of research and operational partners at more than ten other institutions across the U.S.  Individuals will be joining a group of several existing Postdoctoral scholars and graduate students, and a number of experienced faculty, researchers and staff at Scripps who are involved with CW3E.

Per normal Postdoctoral appointment policies, all positions are envisioned as being initially for 1-year, with extension possible contingent upon performance and availability of funding.  The University of California, San Diego is an AA/EOE.

Interested individuals are encouraged to submit their resumes and a 1-page statement of relevant personal interests, goals, range of potential start dates and references.  These should be sent to the position coordinator (in this case: Dr.  Bruce Cornuelle; bdc at ucsd.edu)

Applicants should have 0-2 years of Postdoctoral experience, or be nearing completion of their Ph.D. (estimated within 3 months), and be self-motivated and hard-working.  Good written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce scientific publications and presentations and meet project milestones are required.  Strong analytical backgrounds with a Ph.D. in atmospheric science, meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, climate science, hydrology or environmental engineering is preferred.  Programming experience working in a Unix environment with experience in scripting languages such as Python, Perl, R and Matlab along with true programming language experience in C and Fortran is highly desired. Successful applicants should be comfortable independently working with large code libraries and producing novel visualizations.  Experience with GIS-based mapping tools is also desired.


Position Description: Data Assimilation (CW3E position coordinator – Dr.  Bruce Cornuelle; bdc at ucsd.edu)
CW3E seeks a Postdoctoral researcher to work with local experts to use data assimilation tools with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional weather model to produce and analyze hindcasts and forecasts of Atmospheric River (AR) precipitation along the US West Coast.  The goals are to understand and improve the model physics and parameterizations, improve forecasts, explore sensitivities, quantify uncertainty, identify the impacts of observations, and optimize sampling.

CW3E intends to unify model evaluation, improvement, and delayed-mode and real time data assimilation and forecasting, using the assimilation to provide information on model biases, initialization shortcomings, error sources and growth, and the limits of predictability. The project will use two advanced methods already implemented in WRF: the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART), an open-source community facility, and at least the adjoint component of WRF-4DVAR. Implementation and testing of these data assimilation methods will focus on monitoring and predicting key aspects of ARs, including the role of mesoscale frontal waves.  Assimilation of ground-based measurements from the Western US network of wind profiling radars, snow-level radars and GPS-met measurements will be a priority.  The project will also evaluate the efficacy of offshore airborne reconnaissance methods using manned and unmanned aircraft. The ideal candidate will have experience with modern data assimilation methods and strong computing skills (including Fortran and Matlab). The candidate should have demonstrated ability to independently produce new algorithms and successfully integrate them with existing large code libraries. Experience with WRF is desired but not required.

http://postdocservices.ucsd.edu/PostDocOpp/Job/Details/1001

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Anna M. Wilson, Ph.D.

Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E)

University of California, San Diego

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Nierenberg Hall, Room 440

9500 Gilman Drive #0224

La Jolla, CA  92093-0224

anna-m-wilson at ucsd.edu<mailto:amw061 at ucsd.edu>
(858) 534-3327
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