Fire Weather and Atmospheric Composition Model Developer

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) with Colorado State University (CSU) seeks to fill a full time, professional research associate position to conduct collaborative research with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) in Boulder, CO. The office for this position is located in Boulder, CO, at a federal facility, and requires the ability to pass a tier one federal background check for building and high-performance computing (HPC) access.

An onsite presence at the laboratory in Boulder, CO is required with potential part‑time telework available. CIRA is a multi‑million dollar research organization located on CSU’s Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado, and it is a cooperative institute that is also a research department within CSU’s College of Engineering, in partnership with the Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting NOAA, Colorado State University, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit.

NOAA's GSL is a federal science and research laboratory under NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. GSL provides the National Weather Service (NWS) and the nation with environmental observation, prediction, computer, visualization, and information systems. These systems deliver data, forecasts, and predictions of weather and air quality, including severe weather events. GSL is a leader in the applied research, directed development, and technology transfer of environmental data, models, products, and services that enhance environmental understanding with the outcome of supporting commerce, protecting life and property, and promoting a scientifically literate public.

NOAA/GSL/Earth Prediction Advancement Division (EPAD) Fire Weather and Atmospheric Composition Branch (FWACB) has been leading the development of regional and global aerosol and air quality models in collaboration with other laboratories and universities over many years. One of these models is the meteorology‑chemistry model Weather Research and Forecast coupled with chemistry (WRF‑Chem), which has been widely used in a wide range of atmospheric composition modeling applications around the world.

The High‑Resolution Rapid Refresh coupled with Smoke (HRRR‑Smoke), which is based on the WRF‑Chem framework, is currently NOAA’s flagship operational model for smoke prediction. GSL led the development of NOAA’s next‑generation coupled weather‑aerosol model Rapid Refresh Forecast System with Smoke and Dust (RRFS‑SD). The experimental forecast products from this model are displayed on a public website: https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/RRFS‑SD/. The coupled meteorology‑chemistry models developed at GSL allow simulating complex gas/aerosol chemistry and aerosol‑meteorology interactions on regional and global scales.

Currently GSL/EPAD in collaboration with other groups is leading the development and testing of new aerosol and fire weather forecasting models coupled to the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS). This new model (cheMPAS‑Fire) is being tested in real time at 3.75km resolution over the contiguous US https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/cheMPAS‑Fire/. Going forward, we intend to transition impactful aspects of this work to the NWS.

This will require the integration of these capabilities in the MPAS‑based Unified…