Global Climate Model Diagnostics and Evaluation: At the Intersection of Models and Satellite Data

Zintellect is offering a NASA Postdoctoral Program opportunity in Hampton, VA, focused on Global Climate Model Diagnostics and Evaluation. This research role aims to improve general circulation models (GCMs) by evaluating and diagnosing model errors using NASA satellite data. Key areas of study include polar cloud interactions, extratropical cyclones, and diurnal cycle representation. The fellowship is open to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and eligible foreign nationals. For inquiries, contact npp@orau.org.
About the NASA Postdoctoral Program

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

Description:

Understanding the complex interactions that comprise Earth‘s climate system is an urgent problem whose answer has significant implications on human life, economics, and geo-politics. The most comprehensive tool available to study climate system evolution is the general circulation model (GCM), which is an amalgamation of physical processes involving the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, biosphere, and their interactions that produce Earth‘s climate. Our understanding of these processes is incomplete; therefore, GCMs are imperfect making the evaluation, diagnosis, and attribution of GCM deficiencies is an important area of research.

This opportunity is motivated by the need to evaluate, diagnose, and understand critical physical processes using models and observations to improve GCMs. This goal of this group is to evaluate, diagnose, and attribute model errors to physical processes through innovative approaches using NASA satellite data (e.g., CERES, CALIPSO, CloudSAT, and MODIS). The research being conducted evaluates GCMs on timescales from the diurnal cycle to interannual variability and on spatial scales from local to global. Specific focuses within this opportunity include interactions between polar clouds, sea ice, and poleward heat transport, the representation of extratropical cyclones and mid-latitude cloud feedbacks, and evaluating GCM diurnal cycle representation and the “knock-on“ effects to the climate state and its evolution.

Location:

Langley Research Center

Hampton, Virginia

Field of Science:Earth Science

Advisors:

Patrick Charles Taylor

patrick.c.taylor@nasa.gov

757-864-7581

Eligibility is currently open to:
• U.S. Citizens;
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and,
• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status

Questions about this opportunity? Please email npp@orau.org