Investigating the sensitivity of hydroclimate variability and drought to land surface processes using process-based models

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. This specific opportunity focuses on analyzing existing climate model simulations or conducting new simulations of the GISS coupled climate model (ModelE) to investigate the role of the land surface in hydroclimate dynamics. Climate change is expected to amplify drought risk and hydroclimate variability for many regions. However, the state of the land surface and the associated processes represents a major source of uncertainty that limits progress and confidence in model projections. Potential research topics include investigations of land management's potential to modulate regional hydroclimate, the importance of various land surface processes and their interactions with natural climate variability for drought risk, the role of hydroclimate variability in past and future heat extremes, and the seasonal dynamics and potential predictability of drought. This opportunity is located at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City and is closed to applicants who are Senior Fellows (5-years or more past PhD).