Physical Scientist Atmospheric Wind Data Assimilation

Lynker is seeking a talented Physical Scientist for Atmospheric Wind Data Assimilation, to support a long term contract with the Office of Modeling and Development (OMD) of NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) in carrying out research, development, and operational transition work related to satellite data assimilation for operational applications of the Unified Forecast System (UFS). The candidate’s work will involve the development, execution, testing, and evaluation of innovative techniques to enhance the direct assimilation of atmospheric wind data, specifically, aircraft winds, ocean surface winds and atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs), derived from infrared, microwave, and GNSS-RO measurements made by geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites, as well as space-borne or airborne lidar measurements.

The ideal Physical Scientist for Atmospheric Wind Data Assimilation, will be capable of working a hybrid schedule, with the work location being the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP) in College Park, MD. Remote may be considered for the right candidate.

• Develop new or enhance existing techniques for the improved assimilation of atmospheric wind data, including aircraft winds, ocean surface winds and AMVs.
• Prepare, design, or enhance existing components to enable the assimilation of wind observations and AMVs derived from future satellite missions (infrared, microwave, GNSS-RO) and airborne/space-borne lidar.
• Improve upon quality control and observation error specification, including through the use of AI/ML techniques, to enhance the assimilation of atmospheric wind data and AMVs.
• Design, setup, and execute impact assessment and pre-implementation testing to facilitate transition to operations.

• Background in atmospheric science, numerical weather modeling, and meteorological satellite data analysis.
• Knowledge of atmospheric data assimilation with focus on the assimilation of wind observations, satellite radiances, or AMVs data for numerical weather prediction.
• Knowledge of the physical and mathematical basis of geophysical modeling (atmospheric and/or environmental) and experience running advanced numerical weather prediction models.
• Knowledge and experience of modern programming languages such as object-oriented FORTRAN, Python, and/or C++.
• Experience working in a UNIX environment with advanced scripting languages.
• Good oral and written communication skills in English.

• Experience in atmospheric wind data assimilation with global and regional atmospheric data assimilation systems.
• Experience in running numerical models on High Performing Computer (HPC) platforms using MPI, OpenMP, Slurm, LSF, etc.
• Familiarity with variational data assimilation techniques.
• Experience with space-borne or airborne wind measurements made from microwave, infrared, or GNSS-RO data.
• Experience with coupled earth system models.
• Knowledge of modern software engineering practices (requirements gathering, design, prototyping, version control, integration, testing, and documentation)

Lynker is a growing, employee owned business, specializing in professional, scientific and technical services. Our continually expanding team combines scientific expertise with mature, results-driven processes and tools to achieve technically sound, cost effective solutions in hydrology/water sciences, geospatial analysis, information technology, resource management, conservation, and management and business process improvement.

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