Operational Concepts and Technology Development for Passive Radar Sounding

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 solicits proposals to advance passive radar sounding for planetary exploration through a combination of technology development, field validation, and operational concept studies. Passive radar sounding, which exploits naturally occurring radio emissions as signals of opportunity, presents unique challenges compared to active systems, including variability in signal availability, geometric constraints, and the need for specialized processing. Proposals should address these challenges directly, with an emphasis on operational strategies that enable reliable data acquisition and interpretation under realistic planetary conditions.

• Design and maturation of new passive radar technologies
• Development of signal processing and data analysis methods
• Integration of passive sounding with complementary datasets to extract subsurface structure and volatile information
• Field demonstrations using drones or other platforms to replicate mission-relevant geometries

Requirements

• Prior research experience in planetary science
• Demonstrated expertise in the analysis of radar data, including active or passive radar sounding
• Field work experience, particularly in terrestrial analog environments relevant to planetary exploration
• Doctoral Degree

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

Skills

• Passive radar technology development
• Data analysis and processing
• Operational strategy development
• Field validation techniques

Benefits

• Unique research opportunities at NASA Centers, Headquarters, or affiliated institutes
• Competitive one- to three-year fellowships
• Advancement of NASA’s missions in various scientific fields

Pay

Salary range: $60,000 - $70,000 per year

Schedule

Full-time, one- to three-year commitment

Contact Information

For questions about this opportunity, please email npp@orau.org

Application Instructions

A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes:

• Research proposal
• Three letters of recommendation
• Official doctoral transcript documents