Airborne Lidar Measurements of Atmospheric Trace Gases, Aerosols, and Clouds

About the role

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

NASA Langley Research Center has developed the facility class High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO), an advanced multi-function airborne lidar for profile measurements of water vapor, column and profile measurements of methane, and profile measurements of aerosol/cloud optical properties using the DIfferential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) and High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) techniques, respectively. HALO was developed to address the observational needs of the NASA Earth Science Division Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics, Carbon Cycle, Atmospheric Composition and Radiation Science focus areas. As such, HALO routinely deploys on different NASA aircraft in support of domestic and international field campaigns. Many of the campaigns are flown with other in situ and remote sensors including multi-frequency doppler radar, doppler lidar, microwave radiometers, dropsondes, and visible and near infrared spectrometers. The data sets acquired offer extensive and unique opportunities to study the influence of water vapor and aerosols on weather systems and the formation of clouds as well as for the study of the increasingly important role of biogenic and anthropogenic methane emissions in the carbon cycle. They also provide opportunities to investigate combined active-passive retrievals of water vapor and temperature profiles with airborne and space-based hyperspectral infrared sounders where airborne DIAL observations can be utilized to improve the accuracy and increase the vertical resolution of infrared sounders.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate instrument performance and data quality
• Develop new algorithms or approaches to derive new atmospheric data products (water vapor, methane, and/or aerosol/cloud observations)
• Scientific analyses of data sets from the lidars alone or in conjunction with other field data or coincident satellite remote sensing data
• Participate in real-time data acquisition, post-flight data analyses, and scientific studies with participating instrument and modeling teams
• Focus specifically on instrument development efforts in, e.g., lasers, detectors, and advanced instrumentation techniques
• Link water vapor and/or methane observations to modeling activities

Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status
• 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

Qualifications

• Doctoral Degree

Skills

• Lidar data analysis
• Instrument design/operation
• Modeling activities

Benefits

• One- to three-year fellowship
• Unique research opportunities at NASA Centers, Headquarters, or affiliated institutes
• Competitive program
• Advancement of NASA missions in various scientific fields

Pay

• Salary range based on qualifications and experience

Schedule

• Flexible schedule to accommodate field campaign requirements

Contact Information

Amin Nehris
amin.r.nehrir@nasa.gov
(757) 864-6107

How to Apply

Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements: How to Apply | NASA Postdoctoral Program