NASA Postdoctoral Program Opportunities

• U.S. Citizens Accepted
• Lawful Permanent Residents Accepted
• Foreign nationals who are in the U.S. at the time of application and on a valid J1 visa Accepted;
  Foreign nationals, asylees or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with a valid EAD card and pending I-485 or I-589 forms Accepted.
  NASA Langley Research Center is a Federal facility. Access to the campus and IT tools is subject to security and visitation clearance. Foreign Nationals must contact the advisor prior to starting the application to gain a mutual understanding that arrangements can be made to allow for efficient execution of the research project. Please note that applications by foreign nationals from Designated Countries will be subjected to added level of scrutiny. The "Designated Country List" can be found at the NASA Export Control website: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.

The National Airborne Sounder Testbed-Interferometer (NAST-I) is a high spectral and spatial resolution airborne infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) that nominally flies on NASA high-altitude aircraft (https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/instrument/NAST-I). NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) maintains and deploys NAST-I and performs scientific analyses in support of satellite measurement system calibration/validation activities and NASA Earth system science advancement. LaRC has developed and implemented a set of internal algorithms for fast radiative transfer modeling and geophysical product retrievals of atmospheric, cloud, and surface properties.

Aircraft field campaigns are used not only for the refinement and implementation of validation methodologies but, also, to improve radiative transfer and retrieval algorithms and conduct scientific studies. NAST-I has participated in over 20 field experiment campaigns since program inception in 1998, including the recent FIREX-AQ field campaign conducted during August, 2019 (https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csl/projects/firex-aq/). We are seeking qualified applicants with an interest and passion to work with such instrument systems and datasets, and related research tasks. Candidates with prior experience analyzing aircraft- or satellite-based high spectral resolution infrared datasets are preferred. The NAST-I FIREX-AQ dataset offers a unique opportunity to improve understanding and the utility of high spectral resolution infrared measurements for atmospheric trace species characterization, satellite product validation / improvement, and to investigate the impact of fires on air quality and climate.