26-114 Boundary-Layer Physics Parameterization Developer

Colorado State University•Boulder, CO

1d•$70,000 - $75,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) seeks to fill a full-time Postdoctoral Associate position designed to conduct collaborative research and development with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) located at the Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) in Boulder, CO. The individual in this position will work in the NOAA/OAR/GSL Earth Prediction Advancement Division (EPAD) Physics Branch. The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University is a multi-million-dollar research organization located on CSU's Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. CIRA is a cooperative institute (CI) that is also a research department within CSU's College of Engineering, in partnership with the Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, CSU, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit. NOAA's Global Systems Laboratory is a federal science and research laboratory under NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. GSL provides the National Weather Service (NWS) and the nation with environmental observation, prediction, computer, visualization, and information systems. These systems deliver data, forecasts, and predictions of weather, including severe weather events, within the next few minutes to weeks away. GSL is a leader in the applied research, directed development, and technology transfer of environmental data, models, products, and services that enhance environmental understanding with the outcome of supporting commerce, protecting life and property, and promoting a scientifically literate public.

Requirements

A Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science or related field completed before the start of the appointment.
At least two years of experience with numerical weather and/or climate prediction.
At least two years of experience in Fortran and/or C++, Python, high-performance computing, and Linux computing environments.
Experience using and/or developing PBL parameterizations in appropriate numerical weather prediction models with a specific focus on understanding and/or improving PBL parameterizations.
Experience communicating scientific results, such as through conference presentations, seminars, technical reports, and/or publications.

Nice To Haves

Experience using relevant observations and/or outputs from numerical weather prediction model simulations to inform PBL parameterization evaluation and/or development.
Knowledge of synoptic and mesoscale weather and the ability to link PBL processes to weather scenarios.
Knowledge of existing approaches for parameterizing three-dimensional turbulence for and/or representing urbanization in very-high-resolution numerical weather prediction models.
Knowledge of appropriate research methods or approaches to investigate improvements in PBL-related predictions, coupling of PBL parameterizations to other model components (e.g., the surface-layer, land-surface, cumulus, and microphysics parameterizations), and verification of boundary-layer fields.
Knowledge of a variety of PBL processes, parameterization approaches, methods of processing PBL data, and related software tools.

Responsibilities

Conduct hypothesis-driven, meteorologically informed research to improve the physical fidelity, accuracy, and/or efficiency of planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterizations in numerical weather prediction models, particularly as it relates to storm-scale to sub-kilometer models.
Collaborate with the lead PBL parameterization developer and other parameterization developers within the branch to inform future development activities.
Prepare and/or contribute to the preparation of briefing materials and presentations for branch management, internal meetings, conferences, and workshops, and regularly publish scientific content.