[Met-jobs] 24-month postdoctoral fellowship at the CNRM-GAME, Toulouse, France - closes on 31st May

[Romain ROEHRIG <romain.roehrig@meteo.fr>]

Applications are invited for a 24-month postdoctoral position starting around October 2013,  in the climate research group of the CNRM-GAME in Toulouse, France (http://www.cnrm.meteo.fr/) to work on the following subject: "Improving the representation of Mediterranean heavy precipitating events over land in global and regional climate system models." The deadline for application is May 31st 2013.


Context and objectives:

    Most regional climate system models (RCSMs) face difficulties in representing a reasonable precipitation probability density function in the Mediterranean. Small amount of rain are too frequent, preventing any reasonable representation of droughts or heat waves, while the intensity of heavy precipitating events is underestimated by most RCSMs. Preliminary analysis of HyMeX/MED-CORDEX (http://www.medcordex.eu) stream 1 simulations, performed by state-of-the-art RCMs, revealed a similar behavior, even though RCSMs can be run at relatively high resolution (from ~10 to ~50 km).

    The present postdoctoral fellowship seeks to improve the realism of Mediterranean heavy precipitating events simulated by the CNRM global and regional atmospheric models. The objective is to improve the model parameterizations, using the process-level knowledge of the events acquired at CNRM during previous studies (e.g., Ducrocq et al 2008, Bresson et al 2012). In the context, the applicant will contribute to the set-up of an idealized framework aiming to evaluate and develop the atmospheric physics of the CNRM RCSM. This idealized framework can be 1D simulations (single-column model) and/or 3D simulations with a very small domain (~3x3 grid points), depending on the addressed model resolution (ranging from 200 to 50 km) compared the targeted phenomena. High-resolution simulations, where convection is resolved, will be available as references to analyse the weaknesses of parameterizations and provide insights towards their improvement. In particular, innovative parameterizations will be tested within this framework, such as a parameterization of cold pools generated by convective rainfall evaporation (Grandpeix and Lafore, 2010, Grandpeix et al. 2010) or a parameterization of the interaction between sub-grid orography and convection (Yu 2010).

    This position is funded by the French National Agency for Research (ANR) through the REMEMBER (understanding and modelling the REgional climate system ModEls in the Mediterranean for BEtter water-related Risk prevention in the context of global chande) project, which lies under the umbrella of the HYdrological cycle in the Mediterranean EXperiment framework (HyMeX – http://www.hymex.org/).

Guidelines:

The main guidelines of this postdoctoral fellow are ::

1. Contribute to the evaluation of heavy precipitating events in the CNRM RCSM HyMeX/MED-CORDEX stream 1 simulations (possibly in other models too);
2. Contribute to build an idealized 1D and 3D framework to evaluate and improve the atmospheric physics of the CNRM RCSM;
3. Using this framework and associated high-resolution reference simulations, analyse the behaviour of newly available parameterizations, propose and implement new ideas to improve the representation of heavy precipitating events;
4. Contribute to the evaluation of heavy precipitating events in the full 3D atmospheric component of the CNRM RCSM and the HyMeX/MED-CORDEX stream 2 simulations;
5. Write project reports and scientific articles, and give presentations in REMEMBER meetings and international conferences.
   

Required qualifications:

1. A Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences obtained before the starting date of the contract.
2. An expertise in Fortran and Unix, and an experience in high computing.
3. A good command of English.
   

An experience in  climate modelling and parameterizations will be appreciated.

Practical information:

The successful applicant will be contracted by Météo-France and will be based at the “Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques - Groupe d’Etude de l’Atmosphère Météorologique” (Toulouse, France; http://www.cnrm.meteo.fr/) within the climate research group. The opened position will start around October 2013 for a 24-month duration. The net salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience, ranging from 2000€ to 2700€, after most of the taxes and health insurance premiums have been deducted. Note there might be an additional income tax on top of that, but depending on nationality.

For full consideration, applicants are asked to submit a curriculum vitae (including research experience, publications and conferences, and computing skills), an application letter including a detailed statement of research interest and the names, telephone and email address of 2 referees. Applications should be sent by email before May 31st 2013 to:
romain.roehrig@meteo.fr  
with copy to isabelle.beau@meteo.fr  and Veronique.ducrocq@meteo.fr 

Informal enquiries are welcome

For more details about CNRM-GAME climate research activities, please visit : http://www.cnrm.meteo.fr/gmgec/


Bibliography:

Bresson, E., V. Ducrocq, O. Nuissier, D. Ricard and C. de Saint-Aubin, 2012: Idealized numerical simulations of quasi-stationary convective systems over the Northwestern Mediterranean complex terrain. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 138, 1751-1763. doi: 10.1002/qj.1911

Ducrocq, V., O. Nuissier, D. Ricard, C. Lebeaupin, and T. Thouvenin, 2008 : A numerical study of three catastrophic precipitating events over southern France. II: Mesoscale triggering and stationarity factors. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 134, 131-145. doi: 10.002/qj.199

Grandpeix, J.-Y. and J.-P. Lafore, 2010: A Density Current Parameterization Coupled with Emanuel’s Convection Scheme. Part I: The Models. J. Atmos. Sci., 67, 881–897.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2009JAS3044.1

Grandpeix, J.-Y., J.-P. Lafore and F. Cheruy, 2010: A Density Current Parameterization Coupled with Emanuel’s Convection Scheme. Part II: 1D Simulations. J. Atmos. Sci., 67, 898–922. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2009JAS3045.1

Yu, J., 2010: Representation of anabatic wind effect on deep convection triggering in a climate model (in French). PhD Thesis, Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, France.

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Romain ROEHRIG                 Phone: +33(0)5 61 07 97 62
METEO-FRANCE                   Fax: +33(0)5 61 07 96 10
CNRM-GAME/GMGEC/EAC            E-mail:romain.roehrig@meteo.fr
42, Avenue G. Coriolis
31057 TOULOUSE Cedex FRANCE
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