Laser Remote Sensing of the Earth Atmosphere

ORAU; Pasadena (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading space research organization is offering a unique research fellowship under the NASA Postdoctoral Program. The role involves designing future lidar systems and utilizing data for long-term atmospheric studies. Candidates must possess a Doctoral Degree, be U.S. Citizens, U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents, or eligible foreign nationals. Research will focus on long-term variability studies of ozone and other atmospheric components at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Qualifications

• Must have a Doctoral Degree.
• Eligible U.S. Citizens or U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents.
• Foreign Nationals must be eligible for an Exchange Visitor J‑1 visa.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement and optimize lidar systems.
• Use lidar data for long-term variability studies of atmospheric composition.
• Assist in atmospheric composition studies using co-located instrumentation.

Education

Doctoral Degree

Job description

Organization

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Reference Code

0052-NPP-NOV26-JPL-EarthSci

Application Deadline

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

About the NASA Postdoctoral Program

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.

Description

The JPL atmospheric lidar group led by Dr. Thierry Leblanc at the JPL Table Mountain Facility (TMF) has been performing long‑term measurements of stratospheric ozone, temperature, and aerosols since 1988. These measurements are complemented by tropospheric ozone measurements obtained since 1999 and water vapor since 2005. Another stratospheric ozone/aerosol/temperature lidar system has operated since 1993 at the Mauna Loa Observatory, HI. The results from the above lidars contribute to validating satellite measurements and understanding variability and changes in atmospheric composition at mid‑ and subtropical latitudes at time scales ranging from synoptic to multi‑decadal. Postdoctoral fellows’ tasks in our group are centered on two aspects: instrumental and scientific.

One aspect is to help in the design, implementation and optimization of current and future lidar systems. The second aspect is to use our lidar data to perform long‑term variability studies of atmospheric ozone, temperature, aerosols, and water vapor. Atmospheric composition studies using co‑located instrumentation at TMF, and studies of atmospheric composition in the Upper Tropopause Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) are the TMF lidar group's other priorities, in line with NASA’s current science goals. They will likely be the primary research topics targeted by our group when recruiting future postdoctoral fellows.

Location

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

Field of Science

Earth Science

Advisors

• Thierry Leblanc

Eligibility Requirements

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