Earth Sciences: Remote Sensing of Clouds and Aerosols

ORAU; Greenbelt (MD); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious research opportunity for a Doctoral holder is available within the NASA Postdoctoral Program at a NASA center. This position involves investigating atmospheric properties using advanced remote-sensing techniques and has implications for understanding climate impacts. Ideal applicants will contribute to cutting-edge research while engaging with leading scientists. This opportunity closes to Senior Fellows who completed their PhD 5 or more years ago, and requires submitting a research proposal and other documentation through Zintellect.

Qualifications

• Eligibility requires a Doctoral Degree.
• Open to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and certain foreign nationals.

Responsibilities

• Engage in NASA research projects at NASA Center or affiliated institute.
• Develop techniques for inferring optical and radiative properties of clouds.
• Analyze satellite, aircraft, and ground-based remote observations.

Education

Doctoral Degree

Job description

Location

Goddard Space Flight Center

Advisors

Alexander Marshak

Organization

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Reference Code

0068-NPP-NOV26-GSFC-EarthSci

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted in Zintellect. Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements: How to Apply | NASA Postdoctoral Program (orau.org)

A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes:

• Research proposal
• Three letters of recommendation
• Official doctoral transcript documents

Application Deadline

11/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone

Description

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 opportunity is closed to applicants who are Senior Fellows (5-years or more past PhD). This research opportunity is about using theoretical and experimental investigations of the spectral, angular, and polarization properties of scattered sunlight to develop and apply techniques for inferring the optical and radiative properties of clouds and aerosol particles in the Earth's atmosphere. Satellite, aircraft, and ground-based remote observations collected during recent field experiments targeting marine stratocumulus, arctic stratus, boundary layer cumulus, and high-altitude cirrus clouds, in the presence and absence of sulfate, smoke, and dust aerosols, are jointly examined and compared with available in situ aircraft measurements in order to validate the cloud and aerosol properties derived from the remote-sensing measurements. The goal is to develop and apply methods to extract the optical thickness, effective size, and spectral absorption properties of cloud and aerosol particles. The data are also used to study the effect of aerosol particles on cloud microphysics and albedo. Ultimately, the derived properties of clouds and aerosols, and the understanding of how these two atmospheric constituents interact will be used to assess impacts on the Earth's radiation budget in studies of current and future climates.

Location

Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, Maryland

Field of Science

Earth Science

Advisors

Alexander Marshak
[e-mail]
301-614-6122

Brian Cairns
[e-mail]
212-678-5625

Lazaros Oreopoulos
[e-mail]
301-614-6128

Robert Levy
[e-mail]
301-614-6307

Si-Chee Tsay
[e-mail]
301-614-6188

Kerry Meyer
[e-mail]
301-614-6186

Designated Countries

Applications with citizens from Designated Countries will not be accepted at this time, unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the United States. A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.

Eligibility

Eligibility is currently open to:

• U.S. Citizens;
• U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
• Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and,
• Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status

Questions

Questions about this opportunity? Please email [e-mail]

Point of Contact

Mikeala

Eligibility Requirements

• Degree: Doctoral Degree.