Postdoc in "Developing a novel Antarctic Snow on Sea Ice Data Set" (m/w/d)

The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is a member of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and funded by federal and state government. AWI focuses on polar and marine research in a variety of disciplines such as biology, oceanography, geology, geochemistry and geophysics thus allowing multidisciplinary approaches to scientific goals.

Postdoc in „Developing a novel Antarctic Snow on Sea Ice Data Set“ (m/w/d)

Background
Sea ice and snow observations are the backbone of studying the role of sea ice as a central element of atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions in the Southern Ocean. This project aims to develop new and innovative products that go beyond the current state-of-the-art, improve our knowledge of the Antarctic sea ice mass balance, and allow for investigations of associated freshwater fluxes and linkages to ocean stratification. The goals of the postdoc appointment are (1) to develop a circumpolar map of the dominant scattering surface for Ku-band altimeters and (2) to develop an experimental snow/ice dataset. These tasks will contribute to a new ESA-funded project, „Sea Ice Mass Balance Assessment: Southern Ocean (SO-SIMBA)“.

Your Tasks

• Implement a snow model (e.g., SNOWPACK) in a Lagrangian framework, coupled with a 1D ice growth model to track snowpack properties, including snow/ice formation over time.
• Develop an Antarctic circumpolar dynamic snow depth, density, and snow/ice data product that incorporates all physical processes involved in snowpack evolution.
• Co-locate various satellite datasets together with autonomous measurements for analysis and validation.
• Provide uncertainty estimates and quality flags for the individual datasets.
• Assess how snowpack properties influence the dominant scattering horizon in Ku- and Ka-band altimeters.
• Publish the datasets to make them available to project and external scientists.
• Present results at national and international scientific conferences and team meetings.
• Publish results in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Your Profile

• PhD in Geophysics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, Oceanography, Climate Sciences, or related fields.
• Strong background in snow physics and remote sensing.
• Experience working with large geophysical datasets.
• Excellent programming skills.
• Good English communication skills.

Further Information
For further information, please contact Prof. Julienne Stroeve ( ).

This position is full-time, limited to 3 years. The salary will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federation (Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes, TVöD Bund), up to salary level 13 .
The place of employment will be Bremerhaven . The expected starting date is February 1st, 2025, or later.

All doctoral candidates will be members of AWI’s postgraduate program POLMAR or another graduate school and thus benefit from a comprehensive training program and extensive support measures. Postdocs have to register with AWI’s postdoc office PROCEED , thereby gaining access to a set of tailor-made career development tools.

The AWI is characterized by

• our scientific success – excellent research
• collaboration and cooperation – intra-institute, national and international, interdisciplinary
• opportunities to develop – on the job and towards other positions
• an international environment – everyday contact with people from all over the world
• flexible working hours and the possibility of mobile working up to 50% of regular working hours
• health promotion and company fitness with Hansefit and Wellhub
• support services and a culture of reconciling work and family
• occupational pension provision (VBL)

AWI values diversity and actively promotes gender parity, as well as an open, inclusive environment that provides equal opportunities. We are convinced that diverse teams and a variety of perspectives enrich our work and our daily collaboration. We welcome applications from qualified people regardless of binary and non-binary genders, race and nationality, ethnic and social background, religion, age, physical abilities, neurodivergence, sexual orientation, and other identities.

Applicants with disabilities will be given preference when equal qualifications are present.

We look forward to your application!
Please submit your application by January 1st, 2025 , exclusively online.
Reference number: 24/175/D/Kli-b

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