The Research Fellow will join the Earth System Assimilation Section in the Research Department at the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). They will work alongside ECMWF scientists taking active part in research and development activities to improve the interpretation of satellite information and its assimilation into the ECMWF weather forecast system. The main focus will be the assimilation of infrared radiance observations from EUMETSAT’s MTG program (as well as other GEO satellites). These radiances are an important contributor to today’s weather forecast skill, and the optimised and extended use of these observations is a continuous challenge for Numerical Weather Prediction centres. Developments will also target a successful early exploitation of data from the newly deployed FCI instrument on MTG-I.

ECMWF is both a research institute and a 24/7 operational service, producing numerical weather predictions for its Member and Co-operating States as well as users around the world. ECMWF carries out scientific and technical research and analysis aiming to continuously improve global prediction. ECMWF processes in its high-performance computing facility large amounts of observations to provide up-to-date global analyses and climate reanalyses of the atmosphere, ocean and land surface. For details, see www.ecmwf.int/

ECMWF has recently become a multi-site organisation, with its headquarters based since its creation in Reading, UK, its new data centre opening in 2021 in Bologna, Italy, and new offices in Bonn, Germany, which opened in 2021.

Duties

The fellowship activities will involve the following topics:

• General enhancement of the assimilation of infrared radiances in the ECMWF system, including the refined treatment of uncertainties, data sampling, and observation operator developments;
• Research regarding the extended use of infrared radiances in challenging conditions, such as extensions to the all-sky use of radiances (i.e. in clear and cloudy conditions);

• Evaluation of radiance products from new satellites, including preparations for the use of MTG-FCI, MTG-IRS, etc.
• Real-time monitoring and assessment of the quality of radiance products from microwave sounders on different geostationary satellites (MSG, MTG, GOES, HIMAWARI, etc) in the operational ECMWF assimilation system;
• Updates of the assimilation of radiance observations in line with operational system changes and support of radiance data usage in re-analysis activities.

Skills and Experience

• The Fellow should have a good university degree covering Physics, Maths and Meteorology or equivalent and relevant research experience, ideally including PhD or equivalent study. Further experience in satellite data analysis, data assimilation and/or radiative transfer is particularly desirable.
• Strong computing skills are essential, as the job will involve (a) understanding and modifying the forecasting system, which is mainly written in Fortran-90 and Unix scripts, and (b) making statistical analyses and scientific figures using tools like Python, IDL or Metview.
• Good interpersonal and team working skills are required, along with strengths in scientific analysis, synthesis and presentation.
• Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and a good knowledge of one of the ECMWF’s other working languages (French or German) is desirable but not essential.