Novel analysis of radio occultation measurements for planetary atmosphere studies

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 invites research proposals to study planetary atmospheres including Venus and Mars through improved processing of past and current radio occultation (RO) measurements. Recent advances in RO methodology have made it possible to enhance the vertical resolution and penetration of the retrieved profiles. Combining data from multiple missions expands the available measurements that can be used to improve our understanding of atmospheric processes through comparison with General Circulation Models (GCMs). Studies that exploit that synergy between RO and other observations (e.g., infrared sounders) are also encouraged. The fellowship will be based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.