Job Reference
436_22_ES_AC_R2
Position
Atmospheric Composition data assimilation postdoctoral position (R2)
Closing Date
Thursday, 15 June, 2023
Reference: 436_22_ES_AC_R2
Job title: Atmospheric Composition data assimilation postdoctoral position (R2)
About BSC
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, and is a hosting member of the PRACE European distributed supercomputing infrastructure. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 800 staff from 55 countries.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research.
Context And Mission
Within the Earth Sciences Department of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, the Atmospheric Composition (AC) group aims at better understanding and predicting the spatiotemporal variations of atmospheric pollutants along with their effects upon air quality, weather and climate.
The AC group develops the Multiscale Online Non-hydrostatic AtmospheRe CHemistry model (MONARCH). MONARCH contains advanced chemistry and aerosol packages, and is coupled online with the Non-hydrostatic Multiscale Model (NMMB), which allows for running either global or high-resolution (convection-allowing) regional simulations, and is coupled with an aerosol and gas data assimilation system based on the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF).
The group contributes to a variety of forecasting activities. The dust component of MONARCH runs operationally at the first WMO Regional Specialized Meteorological Center for Atmospheric Sand and Dust Forecast (i.e., the Barcelona Dust Forecast Center, BDFC; https://dust.aemet.es), and contributes to multi-model ensemble forecasts both at the WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System Regional Center (WMO SDS-WAS RC) for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe, and at the International Cooperative for Aerosol Prediction (ICAP). Both WMO Regional Centers are co-hosted by BSC and the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET). The group has been actively involved in the Copernicus Programme of the European Union during the last 5 years and MONARCH has been recently incorporated as a new model of the Copernicus Regional Production Service (CAMS2_40; www.regional.atmosphere.copernicus.eu). Copernicus products are widely used by administrations and policy makers across Europe.
The successful applicant will join the Data Assimilation team of the Atmospheric Composition group of the Earth Sciences department at BSC and will work on the assimilation of observations in the MONARCH chemical weather system. He or she will contribute to maintaining and further improving the current data assimilation scheme for aerosols and gases (based on a LETKF) coupled to MONARCH. According to the candidate’s profile and scientific interest, he or she will work in different aspects of chemistry data assimilation (see key duties).
This work will be done through close interaction with other team members and in collaboration with the colleagues from the Computational Earth Sciences group. For further information about the content of the position, please contact Prof. Carlos Perez Garcia Pando (carlos [dot] perez [at] bsc [dot] es) or Dr. Enza Di Tomaso (enza [dot] ditomaso [at] bsc [dot] es) via email.
The AC group develops the Multiscale Online Non-hydrostatic AtmospheRe CHemistry model (MONARCH). MONARCH contains advanced chemistry and aerosol packages, and is coupled online with the Non-hydrostatic Multiscale Model (NMMB), which allows for running either global or high-resolution (convection-allowing) regional simulations, and is coupled with an aerosol and gas data assimilation system based on the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF).
The group contributes to a variety of forecasting activities. The dust component of MONARCH runs operationally at the first WMO Regional Specialized Meteorological Center for Atmospheric Sand and Dust Forecast (i.e., the Barcelona Dust Forecast Center, BDFC; https://dust.aemet.es), and contributes to multi-model ensemble forecasts both at the WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System Regional Center (WMO SDS-WAS RC) for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe, and at the International Cooperative for Aerosol Prediction (ICAP). Both WMO Regional Centers are co-hosted by BSC and the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET). The group has been actively involved in the Copernicus Programme of the European Union during the last 5 years and MONARCH has been recently incorporated as a new model of the Copernicus Regional Production Service (CAMS2_40; www.regional.atmosphere.copernicus.eu). Copernicus products are widely used by administrations and policy makers across Europe.
The successful applicant will join the Data Assimilation team of the Atmospheric Composition group of the Earth Sciences department at BSC and will work on the assimilation of observations in the MONARCH chemical weather system. He or she will contribute to maintaining and further improving the current data assimilation scheme for aerosols and gases (based on a LETKF) coupled to MONARCH. According to the candidate’s profile and scientific interest, he or she will work in different aspects of chemistry data assimilation (see key duties).
This work will be done through close interaction with other team members and in collaboration with the colleagues from the Computational Earth Sciences group. For further information about the content of the position, please contact Prof. Carlos Perez Garcia Pando (carlos [dot] perez [at] bsc [dot] es) or Dr. Enza Di Tomaso (enza [dot] ditomaso [at] bsc [dot] es) via email.
Key Duties
- Characterisation of model uncertainty through the generation of ensemble perturbations
- Treatment of assimilated observations from new sensors (both satellite and ground-based)
- Evaluation of the impact of assimilating observations in the monitoring and forecast of atmospheric composition species
- Design and production of reanalyses,
- Deployment of data assimilation in operational services such as the regional Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the WMO Barcelona Dust Forecast Center.
- Presenting research findings; writing manuscripts in top peer review publications; assisting grant applications; and other duties as assigned.
Requirements
- Education
- Having a PhD in Physics, Mathematics, Geosciences or related discipline
- Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Knowledge and experience of earth system data assimilation are required.
- Good computing skills in a high-level computer language (such as FORTRAN or C or Python) are required.
- Experience with atmospheric composition (modeling or observations; gases or aerosols) would be advantageous but not essential.
- Knowledge of atmospheric science data formats (such as NetCDF), scientific tools (e.g., CDO, NCO) and data visualization will be valued.
- Competences
- Scientific curiosity and proactive attitude
- Ability to work collaboratively
- Good knowledge of English
Conditions
- The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
- We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
- Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
- Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
- Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
- Starting date: ASAP
Applications procedure and process
All applications must be made through BSC website and contain:
- A full CV in English including contact details
- A Cover Letter with a statement of interest in English, including two contacts for further references - Applications without this document will not be considered
In accordance with the OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for every vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will start the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. A profile questionnaire as well as a technical exercise may be required during the process.
The panel will make a final decision and all candidates who had contacts with them will receive a feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.
At BSC we are seeking continuous improvement in our recruitment processes, for any suggestions or feedback/complaints about our Recruitment Processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information follow this link
Deadline
The vacancy will remain open until suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.
OTM-R principles for selection processes
BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment planels and recognizing career breaks etc.
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link