Land Data Assimilation Scientist

Job Description

Description

SAIC is seeking a Land Data Assimilation - Soil Moisture Physical Scientist to support the Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) in carrying out research and development work related to the future operational land component of the Unified Forecast System (UFS).

Note: The work location is at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP) in College Park, MD.  This hybrid role does offer the ability to work from home 2-3 days per week.

The Land Data Assimilation - Soil Moisture Physical Scientist will perform the job duties in a high-quality, independent, and collaborative way, assisting with developing and applying innovative methods for the primary work areas described below.

Job responsibilities to include, but not limited to:

• Development, execution, testing, and evaluation of several components of the land data assimilation system in the framework of coupled assimilation and modeling.
• Work with EMC scientists and external collaborators to develop coupled land-atmosphere data assimilation capabilities for use in the UFS. In particular, developments will leverage and contribute to the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) project.
• Work on the following scientific and engineering tasks:
• Advance the development of land-atmosphere coupled data assimilation capabilities within JEDI focused on snow and soil moisture state estimation.
• Evaluate the scientific quality of the land initialization for the medium range weather and S2S coupled systems.
• Implement, test, and validate observation operators for land specific observations for the JEDI Unified Forward Operator.
• Assist in the testing for preparation of transition to operations of new coupled land-atmospheric assimilation capabilities for initialization.

Qualifications

Required Minimum Education and Experience:

• Master’s Degree or higher in atmospheric sciences or meteorology, hydrology, applied mathematics, or related physical science
• Citizen or Green Card holder with the ability to obtain a NACI clearance.  For the Green Card holder to qualify for the clearance they must have lived in the US for a minimum 3 years prior to application.  An EAD is not accepted.
• 2 years of experience in environmental forecast and analysis systems.
• Demonstrated knowledge, skills, and abilities in at least five of the following areas:
  • Advanced knowledge of data assimilation with focus on development with coupled, land or hydrological applications
  • Advanced knowledge of the physical and mathematical basis of geophysical modeling (land and hydrology in particular) and experience running advanced numerical weather prediction (NWP) models.
  • Experience in model development in various infrastructures like the Earth System ModelingFramework (ESMF) and NOAA Environmental Modeling System (NEMS)
  • Advanced knowledge and experience of modern programming languages such as object-oriented Fortran, Python, and/or C++
  • Experience working in a UNIX environment with advanced scripting languages
  • Experience in working with HPC platforms (MPI, OpenMP, Slurm, LSF, etc.)
  •  Modern software engineering practices (requirements gathering, design, prototyping, version control, integration, testing, and documentation).
  • Experience in model testing and evaluation and/or knowledge of verification principles.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment on complex problems.
• Good oral and written communication skills in English
• Demonstrated skill in performing tasks requiring organization and attention to detail.

Overview

SAIC® is a premier Fortune 500® technology integrator driving our nation's technology transformation. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian, and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in engineering, digital, artificial intelligence, and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective, and efficient solutions that are critical to achieving our customers' missions.

We are approximately 26,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is core to our values and important to attract and retain exceptional talent. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.4 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom.