Earth Science: Atmospheric Dynamics and Cloud Remote Sensing

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

This opportunity is closed to applicants who are Senior Fellows (5-years or more past PhD).

Fast dynamical and cloud processes present great challenges to remote sensing from space. Embedded in and interacting with mesoscale and synoptic scale atmospheric flows, these processes play important roles in redistributing energy, momentum, and trace gases. It requires satellite sensors with high spatial and temporal resolutions to adequately capture physical properties of the fast processes. To explore and advance new capability of spaceborne instruments, our research has been focusing on:

• atmospheric/ionospheric wave dynamics
• cloud remote sensing
• atmospheric wind sounding techniques

For wave dynamics research, we developed novel methods using advanced satellite sensors (e.g., MLS, AMSU-A, AIRS, GPS Radio Occultation) to detect and map perturbations of atmospheric temperature and density induced by gravity waves. For cloud remote sensing, new sounding methods and algorithms with mm and submm-wave radiometry are sought. The current research focuses on analysis of A-Train data from Aqua AIRS, Aura MLS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. To develop new wind measurement techniques, we are studying i) passive low mass-power-noise mm and submm-wave receivers for Earth and planetary atmospheres, and ii) multi-angle visible/IR cloud imaging for 3-D tropospheric winds.

Location

Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland

Field of Science

Earth Science

Advisors

Dong Wu
Dong.L.Wu@nasa.gov
301-614-5784

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)
• 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

Benefits

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