NASA Postdoctoral Program - Satellite remote sensing of clouds and atmospheric thermodynamics for weather and climate applications

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 satellite remote sensing of clouds and atmospheric thermodynamics for weather and climate applications at NASA Langley Research Center. The CERES Cloud Working Group and LaRC Satellite ClOud and Radiative Property retrieval System (SatCORPS) team work synergistically to produce global datasets of cloud properties and radiation parameters derived from passive visible and infrared sensors on various satellites. These retrievals are key datasets for monitoring cloud systems at different spatiotemporal scales and are essential for quantifying and monitoring the Earth's energy budget, determining cloud radiative effects and weather impacts. Research opportunities include: studies using radiative transfer simulations for cloud retrievals, algorithm development and validation combining satellite retrievals from multiple platforms, studies relating aerosol variability to cloud microphysical changes, research combining satellite retrievals with field campaign observations, projects using machine learning techniques for algorithm development, and developing new products utilizing hyperspectral infrared remote sensing measurements. Candidates with backgrounds in remote sensing, radiative transfer, and physical climatology are encouraged to apply.