Phd Position On antarctic Sea Ice Mass Budget“

The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is a member of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and funded by federal and state government. AWI focuses on polar and marine research in a variety of disciplines such as biology, oceanography, geology, geochemistry and geophysics thus allowing multidisciplinary approaches to scientific goals. - PhD position on "Antarctic sea ice mass budget“ (M/F/d) **Background** The Southern Ocean exhibits a highly variable sea ice cover, both in time and space. For a comprehensive understanding and interpretation of Antarctic sea ice variability, it is essential to quantitatively distinguish the contributions of thermodynamic and dynamical processes. While observational data enables such quantification on the floe scale, the metamorphic snowpack on Antarctic sea ice poses challenges for large-scale assessment, impacting the accuracy of sea ice mass balance derived from satellite remote sensing. The PhD project is part of the Young Investigator and Bridge Group SNOWflAke ("Learning from local snow properties for large-scale Antarctic ice pack volume") in a collaboration between the Alfred Wegener Institute and the University of Hamburg. The position is based in Bremerhaven, with anticipated regular exchanges and stays at the University of Hamburg. **Tasks** - Analysis of observational data to quantify the impact of snow accumulation on sea ice thickness - Evaluation and optimization of parametrizations and surface roughness to improve the performance of the snow microwave radiative transfer model (SMRT) specific to Antarctic sea ice - Integration of a snow model with the SMRT for Antarctic sea ice - Investigation of the influence of snow on estimates of sea ice mass balance from satellite data Publication of results in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at scientific conferences. **Requirements**: - Master’s degree or equivalent in physics, geophysics, meteorology, or a related field - Strong experience in programming, statistics, and data analysis - Good oral and written communication skills in English - Willingness to participate in several week-long expeditions to the polar regions - Good teamwork abilities. **Additional skills and knowledge** - Experience in polar and/or sea ice processes - Experience in working with satellite remote sensing data and sea ice models. **Further Information** This position is limited to 3 years. It is also suitable for part-time employment. The salary will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federation (Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes, TVöD Bund), up to salary level **13 (66%)**. The place of employment will be **Bremerhaven.** **The AWI is characterized by** - our scientific success - excellent research - collaboration and cooperation - intra-institute, national and international, interdisciplinary - opportunities to develop - on the job and towards other positions - an international environment - everyday contact with people from all over the world - flexible working hours and the possibility of mobile working up to 50% of regular working hours - health promotion and company fitness with EGYM Wellpass - support services and a culture of reconciling work and family - occupational pension provision (VBL) Equal opportunities are an integral part of our personnel policy. The AWI aims to increase the number of employees who are women, and therefore, strongly encourages qualified women to apply. Applicants with disabilities will be given preference when equal qualifications are present. The AWI fosters the compatibility of work and family in various ways and has received a number of awards as a result of this engagement. Reference number: 24/25/D/Kli-b