Postdoctoral Fellow in Earth and Mars atmospheric retrievals

The National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) at UAE University (UAEU) in Al Ain, UAE invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in Earth and Mars atmospheric retrievals. The anticipated start date is likely to be sometime during late Fall 2020. The UAE is developing a research base in space science, and the main goal of this position is to build local expertise in atmospheric retrievals. This will maximise the scientific return from the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), prepare Emirati researchers for future missions, and familiarise them with the tools and principles used in atmospheric remote sensing. We seek a postdoctoral researcher with demonstrated expertise in UV/visible/IR and/or thermal IR/microwave atmospheric retrievals to work alongside a Senior Researcher to develop this program. This will involve software development, retrieval product generation, student training, and scientific analysis. EMM launched in July 2020 to study Mars' climate, the links between Mars' lower atmosphere and its upper atmosphere, what processes drive diurnal variations, and atmospheric escape. The main technical aspect of the position is to develop algorithms to convert EMM calibrated spectra into atmospheric quantities using EMM’s publicly available dataset. The point of this work is to build expertise among Emirati students and researchers in the methods and mathematical principles of atmospheric retrievals, radiative transfer modelling, and scientific computing, by involving them at all stages of this process. The full job description at Jobs @ UAEU describes the specific tasks required for this objective. In addition, the Postdoctoral Fellow will assist the Senior Researcher in a research program studying certain aspects of the lower Martian atmosphere based on these data products. They will also contribute, where appropriate, to NSSTC research and development projects in Earth observation where atmospheric retrievals are required.