Open Positions

Postdoc Opportunity at the University of Maryland and the US National Weather Service

The University of Maryland, in association with the US National Weather Service (NWS), is seeking to fill a position for a post-doctoral fellow at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction's (NCEP) Environmental Modeling Center (EMC). The successful candidate will support NCEP/EMC with the development and application of neural network techniques to improve the data assimilation systems in association with the state-of-the-art wave model WAVEWATCH III, within NCEP's operational wave guidance systems and products. The effort aims to improve global-scale wind-wave probabilistic forecasts and products beyond week 2, and is part of NWS's R2O initiative, associated with the establishment of NOAA's Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS).

The candidate will work in an operational research environment, as part of a team of scientists at UMD and EMC. Tasks are to be performed at facilities located in College Park, MD. The performance period is expected to start in early October 2016.

Specific Tasks

The candidate will work with scientists at EMC and UMD to improve the skill and products generated by NCEP's Global Wave Ensemble System (GWES) .

Specific objectives are to:

  1. Improve the GWES wave-height predictability (resolution and reliability), measured by wave-height skill scores including: CRPS, biases, RMS errors, rank histograms, and spread-skill ratios,
  2. Extend the skillful forecast range from 10 days into week 3,
  3. Provide a set of preprocessed observational data to remove observation network biases,
  4. Provide a range of new post-processed forecast and analysis products, attending the needs of its main users, including NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) and National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Education And Experience

A Ph.D. (or equivalent) in Physical Oceanography, Ocean Engineering, Atmospheric Sciences, Applied Mathematics, Scientific Computing, or a related physical or applied science. Familiarity in the area of wave modeling, neural networks, and/or data assimilation is highly desired.

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

Desired Skills

Contact

Please contact Professor Steve Penny at the University of Maryland (send to: Steve.Penny at noaa dot gov, and Henrique.Alves at noaa dot gov)

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