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Development of a New Ground-to-Space Atmospheric Prediction Model

Employer
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Location
Washington D.C.
Salary
Salary commensurate with experience and skills.
Closing date
May 1, 2019

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Discipline
Atmospheric Sciences, Earth and Space Science Informatics, Space Physics
Career Level
Researcher
Education Level
PhD
Job Type
Full-time
Relocation Cost
Paid
Sector Type
Government

The Space Science Division of the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC seeks a highly motivated individual to join a cross-disciplinary research team, tasked with rapidly developing and validating a new state-of-the-art global numerical model of the neutral atmosphere extending from the ground to 500 km altitude, for future high-resolution forecasting of the deep atmosphere for space-weather applications. The successful candidate will join a strong team of research scientists already in place at NRL for this new project that builds upon NRL’s institutional expertise in high-altitude atmospheric model development for new and improved operational environmental prediction capabilities for the globally deployed Navy.

The new atmospheric model will be based on an emerging Navy dynamical core that solves the deep-atmosphere nonhydrostatic equations on the sphere using spectral element (SE) methods. The candidate will work primarily with a group at NRL DC developing new upper-atmospheric (mesospheric and thermospheric) components of the model, including dynamics and physical parameterizations. As model development proceeds, the candidate will conduct high-resolution model experiments on massively parallel high-performance computers to test and refine new features that help the team achieve specific project goals and milestones. In the process, the candidate may also collaborate with other project research teams located at NRL DC and elsewhere, focusing on the model’s lower altitudes, high-altitude data assimilation capabilities, and physical coupling to ionospheric models.

We seek a self-motivated candidate eager to study upper-atmospheric dynamics and physics relevant to short-term prediction, to develop efficient algorithms of these processes, and then to integrate them as new computer code within the evolving infrastructure of the new model. A Ph.D. in atmospheric science, computational fluid dynamics, physics, or a related discipline, is therefore preferred, but not essential. Ability and willingness to work in the environment of a large, diverse and geographically distributed team, to achieve collective team goals, are essential. Strong programming skills will also be required in working with a complex modern highly-scalable Fortran code using up to 1 million processors per run. Thus, candidates with interests in learning and applying modern coding practices on new and emerging supercomputing architectures are encouraged to apply.

All applicants for federal positions must be US citizens. To apply, send your resume, a cover letter addressing placement factors for the position, and current transcripts via the AMRDEC Safe Access File Exchange found at https://safe.amrdec.army.mil/safe/Welcome.aspx, to the attention of Steve Eckermann (email address stephen.eckermann@nrl.navy.mil). Please contact Dr. Eckermann directly with any questions about the position prior to applying. Applications will be accepted until 30 April 2019 or until the position is filled. NRL is an equal opportunity employer.

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