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One PhD position on Arctic Amplification

The positions are funded within the Collaborative Research Center TR172 ArctiC Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and SurfaCe Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms (AC)3 (www.ac3-tr.de), whose second phase will start in January 2024. Within the TR172, IGMK together with the collaboration partners (Universities of Leipzig and Bremen, TROPOS and Alfred Wegener Institute) aim to better observe, understand and model processes leading to Arctic amplification.

PHD-1: Observational ice process fingerprints of arctic mixed-phase clouds

During Phase I of AC³, a W-Band cloud radar has been installed at the German/French research site in Ny-Ålesund/Svalbard and has collected a first long-term dataset of Arctic MPC. During the second phase, this radar will be complemented by a new polarimetric Ka-Band cloud radar. The successful candidate will apply an existing radar forward operator to a multi-month dataset of high-resolution simulations of MPC. These synthetic observations will be used to statistically assess model-observation biases for MPC. The candidate will also help to install and configure the new radar at Ny-Ålesund for long-term but also campaign operations. The candidate will apply polarimetric particle shape retrievals, dual-wavelength radar techniques, as well as polarimetric radar forward operators to those new datasets in order to derive additional constraints for microphysical process simulations. These new observations will be the basis to better understand the observed statistical biases and to achieve consistency between improved high-resolution ICON simulation performed in the partner PhD project (PHD-2) and the observed microphysical process signatures.

 

Specific requirements for this project:

  • experience in cloud remote sensing (preferentially radar)
  • strong interest in setting up and analyzing data from cloud radars and other remote sensors
  • strong interest in ice cloud microphysics, mixed-phase clouds, and evaluation of model simulations with observations

According to the guidelines in the official job posting, please send your application and questions regarding this project to Dr. S. Kneifel (skneifel@meteo.uni-koeln.de).