Research Scientist (North Atlantic Storms and Climate Change)

University of Reading; Reading; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading university in the UK is seeking a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist to investigate the impacts of climate change on extreme North Atlantic storms. The role includes refining algorithms for climate model outputs and understanding diabatic Rossby waves. Ideal candidates should have a PhD in a relevant field and programming skills in Python. This position offers collaboration in a supportive environment with access to cutting-edge resources.

Qualifications

• PhD (or equivalent research experience) in a physics- or maths-based topic.
• Good programming skills in data processing and visualization.
• Good understanding of the physical processes relating to weather and climate.

Responsibilities

• Implement, adapt and refine an existing DRW detection algorithm.
• Assess representation of DRWs in climate models against reanalysis datasets.
• Perform km-scale dynamical downscaling to examine model resolution roles.

Skills

Programming skills in data processing and visualization (Python)

Understanding of physical processes relating to weather and climate

Education

PhD or equivalent research experience

Job description

Are you a researcher with interests in atmospheric dynamics, high impact weather and climate change? We seek a talented Post-Doctoral Research Scientist to study the impacts of climate change on extreme, diabatically-driven, North Atlantic storms in present and future climates under the NERC-funded Diabatic Rossby Waves: An Unexplored Climate Threat project. Despite substantial effort aimed at understanding how climate change will influence extratropical cyclones (ETCs) in future, important uncertainties remain. The emerging consensus is a trend towards fewer ETCs overall but an increase in the intensity of the most extreme cases. This project will take a process-based approach to understand this change in climate risk by investigating extreme ETCs that follow the diabatic Rossby wave (DRW) development mechanism. It will utilise the unique capabilities of a new large ensemble of high-resolution climate model simulations produced within NCAS the CANARI Large Ensemble to assess for the first time the ability of state-of-the-art climate models to simulate DRWs and their response to climate change. Why Join Us? This role provides an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of climate and high impact weather within the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) at the University of Reading. As part of a well-established research group, you will work in a collaborative and supportive environment with access to cutting-edge resources and opportunities for career development.,

Responsibilities

• Implement, adapt and refine an existing DRW detection algorithm for use with climate model outputs and apply it to the new CANARI Large Ensemble dataset.
• Assess the representation of DRWs in the climate model against reanalysis datasets and quantify projected future changes including in their potential for explosive deepening.
• Perform km-scale dynamical downscaling to examine the role of model resolution on the evolution pathways of DRWs and their impacts.

Qualifications

• A PhD (or equivalent research experience) in a physics- or maths-based topic, or expect to obtain this shortly.
• Good programming skills in data processing and visualization (ideally Python).
• Good understanding of the physical processes relating to weather and climate.