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Argonne National Laboratory · 1 day ago

Postdoctoral Appointee - Coastal-urban Flooding

Lemont, IL

Full-time

Onsite

New Grad

$71K/yr - $118K/yr

Argonne National Laboratory seeks a postdoctoral researcher to help build a high-resolution coastal-urban flooding modeling capability within the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). The role involves investigating coupled land-river-ocean processes and developing models to simulate extreme flooding events in coastal regions.

EnergySecuritySocial Impact

Culture & Values

No H1B

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

The investigation of coupled land-river-ocean processes in coastal flooding applications by developing a coupled E3SM configuration that incorporates a subgrid-scale version of the MPAS-Ocean model coupled with E3SM’s land and river components

Including wave setup processes into E3SM by coupling the E3SM wave and ocean components

Application of this coupled model to better understand extreme regional compound flooding within a global Earth system model

Mesh design and high-resolution data utilization

Develop and refine high-resolution barotropic ocean meshes along U.S. coastlines, including incorporation of levees, jetties, and wetlands

Ingest and process coastal datasets (bathymetry, topography, land use/cover) to support accurate wetting and drying and bottom friction/vegetation drag parameterizations

E3SM integration and coupling

Integrate two-way land–river–ocean couplings with a subgrid scale ocean model to support upstream river boundary conditions and coastal inundation processes

Incorporate wave setup effects by coupling WAVEWATCH III radiation stresses to E3SM configurations for coastal extreme water levels

Design and run event-scale and historical simulations to validate coastal water levels, tides, and storm surge against observations for representative extreme and sequential events

Analyze model performance and sensitivity (e.g., drag schemes, mesh resolution, feature representation); document improvements and limitations

Collaborate with DOE E3SM, ICoM, and InteRFACE, projects as well as university partners on coastal methods and validation strategies

Mentor summer students on data analysis and visualization workflows

Publish in peer-reviewed journals, present at scientific conferences, and contribute to open-source code repositories and documentation

Qualification

Coastal/ocean modeling systemsScientific programmingGeospatial data processingModel coupling frameworksMesh generationCommunication skillsTeamworkMentoring

Required

PhD in physical oceanography, coastal engineering, computational science, Earth system science, applied mathematics, or a related field

Experience with one or more coastal/ocean modeling systems (e.g., MPAS-Ocean, ADCIRC, ROMS, NEMO, WAVEWATCH III) and familiarity with barotropic/baroclinic ocean processes, tides, storm surge, and coastal inundation

Proficiency in scientific programming (Fortran/C/C++), Python-based analysis, version control (Git), and working in Linux/HPC environments (MPI, batch schedulers)

Hands-on experience with geospatial data processing (NetCDF/HDF5, GDAL, xarray) and coastal datasets (e.g., GEBCO/ETOPO, USGS/NOAA/NCEI), including mesh generation and quality control

Strong communication skills and a record of peer-reviewed publications

Ability to model Argonne's core values of impact, respect, safety, integrity, and teamwork

Preferred

Direct experience with MPAS-Ocean and/or E3SM, variable- or unstructured-resolution mesh tools (e.g., JIGSAW, MOAB), and wetting–drying schemes for coastal inundation

Experience in model coupling frameworks (e.g., CIME/ESMF/NUOPC), wave–surge interactions, and coastal nutrient/salinity flux transport

Familiarity with leadership-class computing environments (ALCF/NERSC/OLCF)

Evidence of collaborative, team-based research and mentoring of students

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits are part of the total rewards package

Company

Argonne National Laboratory

Glassdoor4.4

Argonne National Laboratory conducts researches in basic science, energy resources, and environmental management.

Founded in 1946

Lemont, Illinois, USA

1001-5000 employees

http://www.anl.gov/

Funding

Current Stage

Late Stage

Total Funding

$41.4M

Key Investors

Advanced Research Projects Agency for HealthUS Department of EnergyU.S. Department of Homeland Security

2024-11-14Grant· $21.7M

2023-09-27Grant

2023-01-17Grant

Leadership Team

Paul Kearns

Laboratory Director

Venkat Srinivasan

Director, Argonne Center for Collaborative Energy Storage Science (ACCESS)

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