Result of Service

Deliverable 1: Installation of Tethys portal and GGST, completion of functioning interface, including report on update of GRACE data on the Arab Groundwater Knowledge platform and portal maintenance.
• Deliverable 2: Delivery of draft documentation, portal maintenance including report on update of GRACE data on the Arab Groundwater Knowledge platform.
• Deliverable 3: Delivery of final documentation after ESCWA’s comments in addition to maintenance of the portal including report on GRACE data update on the Arab Groundwater Knowledge platform.

Work Location

Remotely

Expected duration

12 Months

Duties and Responsibilities

The primary objective of this consultancy is to support ESCWA in developing an automated software solution for groundwater analysis using GRACE data where the primary data access and visualization point is the Arab Groundwater Knowledge Platform developed and hosted by ESCWA. ESCWA staff will be assisted to set up a Tethys portal containing the web app. Once established, ESCWA can immediately begin processing groundwater storage data for basins in the Arab region and hosting the results on the Arab Groundwater Knowledge Platform.

Under the overall supervision of the Climate Change and Natural Resources Sustainability Cluster Leader, the consultant would report directly to the Integrated Water Resources Management for Improved Water Security Coordinator and will be responsible for the following
duties:
• Set up a Tethys portal on the cloud.
• Install the GRACE Groundwater Subsetting Tool (GGST) on the Arab Groundwater Knowledge Platform portal.
• Provide assistance to ESCWA staff to develop an automated interface to the GGST API that allows users to upload shapefiles to define analysis regions.
• Provides update of GRACE groundwater datasets on Arab Groundwater Knowledge Platform portal.
• Develop documentation for the GRACE Subsetting algorithm and associated tools. This will include an overview of the underlying datasets, the computational algorithm, and how to interpret the results and detailed instructions on how to use the Water Table Fluctuation (WTF) method with the GRACE results to estimate recharge. It will also include instructions on how to use the Tethys app, the API, a Google Colab notebook for directly accessing the API via Python, and a Google Colab notebook for automatically imputing gaps in the GRACE signal prior to applying the WTF method.

Qualifications/special skills

A master’s degree in web development, geo-information science or related area is required. A Ph.D. is desirable.

All candidates must submit a copy of the required educational degree. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
A minimum of five years of experience in the areas of earth observation and geo-information science is required.
A robust knowledge about the GRACE mission data processing is required.
A minimum of one year of experience working in the area of earth observation for groundwater management is required.

Languages

Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat; and Arabic is a working language of ESCWA.

For this position, fluency in English is required.

Note: “Fluency” equals a rating of ‘fluent’ in all four areas (speak, read, write, and understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of ‘confident’ in two of the four areas.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.