The Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO) seeks to fill a Post-Doctoral Research Associate position for its collaborative research as a Cooperative Institute with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL). The Post-Doctoral Research Associate with contribute to NSSL's new focus on fire weather research including observations, modeling, and downstream impacts.

Background

Wildfires have increased in frequency and their impacts on society have worsened over the past decade. They are also becoming three times more frequent and more widespread. High-severity fires have immediate impacts on the ecosystem, plants, animals, and local communities. This has led to an increased investment in assessing the characteristics of wildfires, their impacts, and the development of potential forecasting tools. Aspects of this work include the potential for improved observations of wildfire impacts using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), weather radar, and satellite platforms and ingesting these data in high resolution models to predict conditions which lead to wildfires, how they may evolve, and post-fire impacts. This research offers many opportunities for better understanding wildfires that have the potential to be used in future decision-making activities.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research using observations to better understand wildfire properties and/or improve the ability of high-resolution models to analyze and forecast wildfire impacts
• Analyze large and complex data sets by creating analysis and visualization code
• Development of model code that improves wildfire and smoke analyses and boundary layer interactions between the surface, atmosphere, and fire properties
• Integrate dynamically coupled fire front and microscale wind models into the Warn-on-Forecast System (WoFS), which is currently being extended to fire-weather applications
• Publish research results in peer-reviewed journals and present at professional conferences on a regular basis

This position starts on or after May 1, 2023 and ends on September 30, 2025. Further employment beyond this date is dependent on availability of funding and a positive assessment of the incumbent's performance. This position will be located in Norman Oklahoma at the National Weather Center.

Required Education: PhD in Meteorology or related area

Skills:

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  Experience with scientific programming on UNIX/Linux systems using a high-level language (e.g., Fortran, Python, C++); experience with high performance computing is preferred
  
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  Experience in one or more topic areas including numerical weather prediction, wildfire characteristics and their impacts utilizing satellite, radar, and/or UAS observations, and/or atmospheric boundary layer properties
  
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  Excellent oral and written communication skills
  
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  Ability to work both independently and cooperatively with others
  

Special Instructions: If you are selected as a final candidate for this position, you will be subject to The University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Tuberculosis Testing policy.  To view the policy, visit https://hr.ou.edu/Policies-Handbooks/TB-Testing .

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