Scientist Earth System Model Physics and Hydrology Development

Lynker seeking a sharp Support Scientist for Earth System Model Physics and Hydrology Development to support NWS/OMD for the development of land model physics parameterizations, especially those related to hydrology, as part of the Unified Forecast System for regional and global predictions at all time scales. The candidate’s work will involve the development and implementation of land model physics parameterizations and inputs within the Common Community Physics Package (CCPP) for hydrologic processes relevant in the current modeling system, including lakes, river routing, surface inundation and groundwater.

The ultimate goal of the work will be to improve representation of land-related physical processes, and their interactions with other model physics, in the Unified Forecast System. The Ideal Support Scientist for Earth System Model Physics and Hydrology Development, will be local to the DC Metro area, and be able to work a hybrid schedule, working 2 days per week in office out of the College Park, MD location, and working from home the remaining 3 days of the week.

Duties of the Support Scientist for Earth System Model Physics and Hydrology Development will include the following:

• Develop and enhance the lake model and hydrological components for the Unified Forecast System (UFS) within the CCPP framework.
• Support the integration and implementation of lake and hydrological components into the UFS land model.
• Conduct testing and evaluation of UFS model performance with updates to the land model hydrological components across regional and global scales.
• The candidate will perform the job duties in an independent, collaborative and initiative way, applying innovative methods for the primary work areas.
• The candidate will work with others on the forecast system improvements for transition-to-operations, and will also work with external collaborators to develop and improve physics parameterizations for use within the Unified Forecast System framework.

The Support Scientist for Earth System Model Physics and Hydrology Development selected should have the following:

• General knowledge of earth system modeling with demonstrated experience in developing land model parameterizations
• Experience with a broad range of hydrologic process models, including 1-D/3-D lakes, river routing, surface inundation and groundwater
• Experience with machine learning methods relevant to land surface modeling, including but not limited to long short-term memory (LSTM) and Transformers
• Experience in land/lake/hydrology model evaluation, data post-processing and statistical analysis including accuracy and uncertainty analysis, especially at the land process level
• Familiarity with modern software development practices, particularly the Git Hub/Git version control software and environment
• Advanced skills and knowledge of modern programming languages and object-oriented languages, such as Fortran and Python
• Experience working in a UNIX environment with advanced shell scripting languages and familiar with running complex jobs

The Ideal Support Scientist for Earth System Model Physics and Hydrology Development will have the following:

• Experience with large-scale datasets of land surface properties for use as model inputs and model evaluation
• Experience in running numerical models on High Performing Computer (HPC) platforms using MPI, OpenMP, Slurm, LSF, etc.

About Lynker

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,…