Postdoc: Millimeter-Wave Radar Systems, Remote Sensing, and Machine Learning

Job Details

New ideas are all around us, but only a few will change the world. That’s our focus  ask the biggest questions, then search the universe for answers—literally. We build upon ideas that have guided generations, then share our discoveries to inspire generations to come. Your mission—your opportunity— is to seek out the answers that bring us one step closer. If you’re driven to discover, create, and inspire something that lasts a lifetime and beyond, you’re ready for JPL.

Located in Pasadena, California, JPL has a campus-like environment situated on 177 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and offers a work environment unlike any other: we inspire passion, foster innovation, build collaboration, and reward excellence.

JPL is unique among NASA Centers in that its staff are Caltech employees, yet can access NASA technical resources. Cross-discipline teamwork is standard here: colleagues across JPL's science and engineering organizations and on Caltech's academic campus often work together. Learning to speak and understand other disciplines' languages is a doorway to the creativity needed to do what has not been done before.

JPL staff are encouraged to create mission concepts that address humanity's core questions through a combination of science and technology. They are supported in developing ideas into proposals and hardware, and in communicating funded missions' results to the scientific community and the broader public. JPL seeks to employ scientists and engineers who are passionate about lifelong learning and excited to both contribute to and lead team efforts.

We emphasize the importance of partnering across discipline boundaries and creating a friendly, constructive work environment to overcome space exploration's challenges. The Postdoctoral scholars at JPL benefit from an informal mentoring network, an annual conference showcasing their results, a dedicated seminar series, exposure to diverse career paths, and social connections across the JPL and Caltech community for advice on housing, childcare, and other aspects of living in southern California.

JPL’s RF Remote Sensing Systems and Technology Section is seeking a postdoc who will serve as a key bridge between radar hardware development and science applications, conducting research that advances end-to-end radar system performance and enables innovative approaches for cloud and precipitation observations. The position offers opportunities to develop and apply machine learning techniques to radar observations, improve calibration and retrieval methodologies, analyze large atmospheric datasets, and publish high-impact scientific results that advance the state of the art in microwave remote sensing.

• Conduct independent research on millimeter-wave radar systems for atmospheric remote sensing.
• Develop and evaluate calibration techniques, retrieval algorithms, and advanced data analysis methods for cloud and precipitation observations.
• Apply machine learning and statistical approaches to radar measurements and geophysical retrievals.
• Support radar system characterization, testing, and performance evaluation.
• Analyze large observational datasets and develop software tools for scientific data processing.
• Publish research findings in peer-reviewed journals and present results at national and international conferences.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams spanning radar hardware development, remote sensing science, and data analytics.

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Atmospheric Science, Remote Sensing, Physics, Computer Science, Earth Science, or a closely related field.
• Experience in radar remote sensing, RF systems, microwave instrumentation, or related experimental research.
• Strong background in scientific programming using Python, MATLAB, or similar programming languages.
• Experience analyzing large scientific datasets using statistical or computational methods.
• Demonstrated record of peer-reviewed publications and excellent written and oral communication skills.

The appointee will carry out research in collaboration with JPL advisor, resulting in publications in the open…