Research Associate in Atmospheric Science or - Manchester, United Kingdom - The University of Manchester

The University of Manchester

Verified Company

Manchester, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Purpose
To undertake research into turbulent and dynamic processes in convective clouds using multi-sensor measurements from a field campaign.

This role is funded by the NERC research programme "Improving model representation of turbulent atmospheric processes" as part of the project "WesCon - Observing the Evolving Structures of Turbulence (WOEST)".

The NERC research programme runs from and involves scientists at the University of Manchester, the UK Met Office, and other UK universities and research institutes and aims to improve the representation of turbulent processes in weather prediction models run at horizontal length scales 10m-10km.

The programme is linked to the WesCon field campaign led by the UK Met Office, which takes place in summer 2023 in southern England and will target turbulent processes in convection and in the boundary layer with a range of observation platforms, including the UK research aircraft, FAAM.

The project WOEST is led by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) at the University of Leeds and complements the WesCon field campaign by supplying drones and hosting a wide range of ground-based instrumentation at multiple sites in southern England.

Using these observations, WOEST scientists will evaluate boundary-layer variability and evolution in Met Office model simulations (this role) and the representation of small-scale turbulence and updrafts in convective clouds (role to be advertised at the University of Manchester).

Main duties and responsibilities

The main duties and responsibilities of this role relate to the processing and analysis of data from radiosondes, unmanned aerial systems, radars, and vertical wind profilers, as well as subsequent model evaluation.

Three tasks comprise Manchester's contribution to WOEST and WesCon.

Erosion of inhibition and convective initiation: Frequent radiosondes and hourly drone profiles, as well as dropsondes released from the FAAM aircraft by WesCon, will be used to characterize stable layers and CIN and to investigate how boundary-layer processes and the presence of different forcings contribute to the erosion of convective inhibition (CIN) and triggering of convection. How does CIN develop, and how is its erosion related to convection initiation and thermals? For well-observed case studies, we will evaluate these processes in sub-km-scale models provided by the Met Office as part of WesCon, as well as local WRF runs.
Boundary-layer variability: The vertical profiling instruments at the Chilbolton supersite, in coordination with the scanning-radar facilities in the WesCon region, will be used to quantify the scales of boundary-layer variability. The role of different external forcings (e.g. land-surface heterogeneity, cold pools, sea breezes) in controlling dominant length scales of boundary-layer variability, the strength of updrafts and the formation of coherent BL/mesoscale structures like convergence lines. Use of low-level FAAM transects and/or drone data will be used to estimate boundary-layer fluxes and coherency as a function of length scale. For well-observed case studies, we will evaluate these processes in models and support parameter optimization in the development of a cold-pool parameterization in CoMorph.
Boundary-layer clouds: To link the efforts from other components of WOEST being done at the University of Reading, we will identify statistical relationships between boundary-layer and cloud variability using co-located radar and cloud-camera observations. Do spatial scales and coherent BL structures map onto the formation of shallow cumulus clouds, and how does this depend on the larger-scale environmental conditions? How do boundary-layer scales and structures map onto areas of preferred initiation and the subsequent size and strength of convective updrafts?

There will be substantial interaction between this role and the wider WOEST project and NERC research programme, particularly with model developers and testers.

You are therefore expected to support Python algorithm development for future use by the UK community for model evaluation across the NERC research programme.

Supervision given:

None, but the post holder will have the opportunity to co-supervise undergraduate students and MSc students for their dissertation projects.

Our University is positive about flexible working - you can find out more here

Blended working arrangements may be considered

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name:
Prof. David Schultz

General enquiries:

Technical support:

**Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.