General information
Offer title : M/F Researcher in modeling permafrost-hydrology interactions in Tibetan watersheds. (H/F)
Reference : UMR7330-NOEGAR-053
Number of position : 1
Workplace : AIX EN PROVENCE
Date of publication : 12 September 2024
Type of Contract : FTC Scientist
Contract Period : 24 months
Expected date of employment : 1 November 2024
Proportion of work : Full time
Remuneration : between 3081.33 and 4291.7
Desired level of education : Niveau 8 – (Doctorat)
Experience required : 1 to 4 years
Section(s) CN : Earth System: superficial envelopes
Missions
Climate change is altering the fluxes of water and energy between the atmosphere and the surface in mountainous regions such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), which has seen significant hydrological changes in recent decades, including rapid variations in lake levels. The ground surface of the QTP is covered by permafrost or seasonally frozen soils and, in this environment, the soil thermal regime influences liquid water availability, evaporation and runoff. Therefore, climate-induced changes in the soil thermal regime may contribute to lake level variations, but the validity of this hypothesis has yet to be established. For the time being, however, physically-based approaches at catchment scale aimed at linking the soil thermo-hydrological regime and hydrological changes observed on the QTP remain rare. They do, however, provide a powerful approach to answering the following question: to what extent can climate-induced soil thermal changes affect the water cycle in high mountain regions in the headwaters of a basin?
The research to be carried out by the candidate will be a direct follow-up to Martin et al (2023) and will aim to model the recent thermo-hydrological regime of Tibetan catchments and investigate the relationship between soil warming trends, permafrost degradation and hydrological changes in the catchment, ultimately discussing implications for lake level variations. Ideally, the candidate will use the CryoGrid community model to quantify the surface energy balance of the watershed in a spatially distributed manner, as well as soil temperature, water content and water fluxes (evaporation, runoff) in order to understand the interaction between these variables and their influence on lake levels. The candidate will have access to dynamically downscaled climate forcings to force the model, and will calibrate and evaluate it against remote sensing products. Flexibility in this initial plan is entirely possible after discussions at the start of the project, as long as the overall problem is addressed.
Activities
– Analysis and correction of climate forcing data
-Calibration of a surface energy balance model based on these climate forcings and remote sensing data
– Cryo-hydrological simulations at the scale of a Tibetan watershed over recent decades using a Land Surface Model including relevant physical processes
– Exploitation of results to better understand permafrost-hydrology interactions in this type of environment and their potential connections with observed lake level changes.
Skills
Qualifications
We are looking for a candidate with a PhD and a strong scientific interest in permafrost science, hydrology and climatology. The person must be (or be willing to become) a numerical modeller, with skills and interest in the physics of climate-surface interactions, programming and numerical problems (clustering, parallelization, optimization, etc.). Previous experience in land surface modeling or similar expertise will be appreciated. Field work in Tibet may be considered.
◦ Potential occupational hazards
Possible risks may be related to high mountain field missions. Participating in field missions is not mandatory for this position. The implementation of field missions is not certain.
◦ Health and safety regulations may apply: mainly office work.
◦ English language: B1 to B2
Operational skills
▪ Relational, organizational and autonomous work skills. Sense of initiative.
▪ Computer knowledge required: programming, numerical calculation, cluster calculations.
▪ Use of necessary IT tools: GIS, linux servers, Matlab.
▪ Basic knowledge: surface climatology, thermodynamics, hydrology, numerical calculation, physical modeling.
▪ Motivation and aptitude for field work: potentially at altitude.
Work Context
CEREGE is located on the Petit Arbois plateau, Technopole Environnement Arbois – Méditerranée, Avenue Louis Philibert, Les Milles-Aix en Provence.
The successful candidate will join the CEREGE team and work in close collaboration with Léo Martin and his collaborators (IGE Grenoble, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Oslo, University of Utrecht).
Constraints and risks
Possible risks may be related to high mountain field missions. Participation in field missions is not mandatory for this position.
