The Hydrological Sciences Branch - Code 614.3

The Hydrological Sciences Branch (formerly Code 974) is a branch of the Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Water is critical to sustaining life on Earth, and helps to tie together the Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere into an integrated physical system. Here, at the Hydrological Sciences Branch, we recognize the primary role of water in the Earth system, and seek a deeper insight into the science and physical principles underlying hydrology from local to global perspectives.

Employment Opportunities

Research Associate: Land surface modeling and data assimilation specialist.
We now invite applications for a land surface modeling and data assimilation specialist, to be hired through a cooperative agreement with one of GSFC's university affiliates. Duties will include:

1. implementation and optimization of existing approaches for assimilating satellite observations of various water and energy cycle variables into land surface models driven by NASA's Land Information System (LIS; http://lis.gsfc.nasa.gov/) / Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS; http://ldas.gsfc.nasa.gov/);
2. design and testing of algorithms for simulating groundwater storage and runoff in these models;
3. performing specialized simulations over regions of interest;
4. analysis of results.

The primary goal of this work is to use remote sensing data to better describe hydroclimatic variability and improve water resources planning. Candidates must be skilled in FORTRAN programming and data visualization (e.g., GrADS). The most highly qualified candidates will have experience in land surface modeling, remote sensing, and/or data assimilation. The ability to communicate results effectively both orally and in written publications will be crucial. Some travel will be required. A Masters Degree or Ph.D. in a relevant field of Earth science or computer science must be held or imminent at the time of hire. Salary will be commensurate with experience. The position will remain open until filled, however, for full consideration, please submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and list of three professional references via email by 15 May 2008. NASA and its university affiliates are Equal Opportunity employers.

Hydrological Sciences Branch Features

Our Science Highlights are published monthly to our web site. Each report is fully viewable online as JPG files. The PowerPoint files are also archived and freely available for download. Go to the Science Highlights Library

Student, Post-Doc, and Faculty Opportunities

Job Opportunities Potential Terrestrial Water Cycle Civil Servant Positions The Goddard Space Flight Center’s Earth sciences hiring needs are based on Agency and National strategic Earth science goals, as expressed in the recent National Research Council Decadal Survey Report, the International Program for Climate Change, the Climate Change Science Program, and on a careful analysis of our current staff. In response to these analyses we need to immediately institute a program of hiring up to ten new science staff. These scientists will have an unparalleled opportunity to be involved in critical Earth science research that will define our understanding of our planet’s climate. If you are interested, please follow application instructions at the website following: http://pita.gsfc.nasa.gov/metadot/index.pl?id=2910.

Our Web Sites

Land Information System (LIS) The award-winning Land Information System (LIS) is a high performance land surface modeling and data assimilation system, based on GSFC's Land Data Assimilation Systems. This site provides LIS source codes and sample data to registered users. + Visit the Land Information System web site

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