General information
Offer title : CDD research: Seasonal forecasting of groundwater resources (M/F) (H/F)
Reference : UMR3589-SIMMUN-008
Number of position : 1
Workplace : TOULOUSE
Date of publication : 30 October 2024
Type of Contract : FTC Scientist
Contract Period : 6 months
Expected date of employment : 1 February 2025
Proportion of work : Full time
Remuneration : Monthly gross salary between €3290 and €4170 depending on qualifications and experience
Desired level of education : Niveau 8 – (Doctorat)
Experience required : Indifferent
Section(s) CN : Continental surface and interfaces
Missions
The Aqui-FR project aims to deploy groundwater resource modeling coupled with both flow simulation and recharge estimation via the Surfex surface scheme (Masson et al. 2013). Aqui-FR is based on the integration of a set of existing hydrogeological applications, generally developed in conjunction with water managers. Today, Aqui-FR covers more than a third of France’s sedimentary aquifers, karstic aquifers and some basement aquifers (Vergnes et al. 2020). It is used for applications in past historical reconstruction, real-time monitoring of aquifer status, seasonal forecasts and climate projections (Habets et al. 2019; Leroux et al. n.d.; Vergnes et al. 2020). Seasonal forecasts have been evaluated over a 25-year period, and have shown a good ability to anticipate groundwater resources and in particular drought areas 6 months in advance, mainly for forecasts covering the summer period, with particularly satisfactory results at the end of summer (Leroux et al. n.d.). Since January 2020, seasonal forecasts have been produced in real time, and have been used to anticipate the droughts of 2020.
Activities
The aim of the CDD is to validate the seasonal forecasting system for groundwater levels. A first step will be to compare forecast performances when the system is forced with seasonal meteorological forecasts from the Arpege-Système 8 model (Batte and Deque 2016) used operationally at MĂ©tĂ©o-France for seasonal atmospheric forecasting. These results will be compared with those obtained using climatologies over the 1993-2016 period, or a simple persistence hypothesis. Emphasis will be placed on studying the predictability of the processes responsible for variations in groundwater levels (precipitation, recharge, groundwater-river exchanges). A second stage will involve setting up tools for comparison with piezometric observations over recent years, which will then be used operationally to assess forecasts in real time. This will make it possible to refine the system’s reliability and thus improve the dissemination of results to those involved in water resource management.
Skills
PhD in geosciences, hydrology, hydrogeology or meteorology Environmental modeling skills
Python programming skills, Linux system
Knowledge of statistics and data processing
Ability to work independently and as part of a team
Experience in scientific writing to promote work in scientific journals
Work Context
The work will be carried out at CNRM-UMR3589 (Météo-France/CNRS) in Toulouse, under the principal direction of Simon Munier at CNRM and Florence Habets at the ENS Geology Laboratory, with expert colleagues contributing to the Aqui-FR project and experts in seasonal forecasting. This work will be carried out in close collaboration with the Aqui-FR research group, in particular with the Météo-France service operating these forecasts in real time, to ensure that the diagnostics and developments can be integrated into operations, with the modelling hydrogeologists (BRGM, CNRS, MinesParistech) both for the model aspects and for the links with the work being carried out in parallel on feedback from the first years of forecasting, and finally, with the Office Français de la Biodiversité, which is funding the project.
Constraints and risks
Nothing to report