Post-Doc HidroClim: analysis of hydrological simulations in present and future climate and comparison with remote sensing data.

Title of the topic

Study of the past and future evolution of the water resources of the Pyrenees by means of land-surface model and hydrological model simulations, and comparison to remote sensing data.

Host institution

Ebro Observatory - Ramon Llull University.

Roquetes (Tarragona Province), Spain.
http://www.obsebre.es - http://www.url.edu

Supervisor

Dr. Pere Quintana-Seguí (Observatori de l’Ebre-URL)

Salary

The gross annual salary is 27.600,00 €.

Duration of the contract

Approximately 12 months with a trial period of 3 months.

Profile of applicant

• Training in hydrology, meteorology, civil engineering, or similar.
• Experience in the use of hydrological models, LSM (land-surface models), river routing models, etc.
• Experience in the use of remote sensing data (soil moisture, evapotranspiration, etc).
• Experience in studying the impact of climate change 
• Proficiency in scientific programming in Python or R (Python is preferred).
• Ability to work in Linux environments using bash and command line tools.
• Ability to write and publish scientific articles in English and to participate in international scientific conferences also in English.

Description of the topic for the post-doc

The mission of the hired person is to analyze the simulated data generated in the POCTEFA PIRAGUA project. This includes the SAFRAN-SURFEX based simulation of the climate of the Pyrenees and associated scenarios (one simulation forced by an observation-based gridded dataset, SAFRAN, and other simulations forced by downscaled climate simulations).  The SAFRAN based simulation will be compared to remote sensing data and to a SAFRAN-SWAT simulation. The SURFEX scenarios might be compared to other scenarios generated using the SWAT model. The aim is to end the work with at least one scientific paper.

The SURFEX simulations are already done or running. The hired person will post-process and analyze the result and write, at least, one scientific article. The person might also participate in international scientific conferences and make scientific stays in national and / or international research centers that participate in the H2020 ACCWA project, if the evolution of the pandemic caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus allows it.

The hired person might also contribute to other related projects.

Description of the project

The hired person will not be hired using PIRAGUA funds, but he/she will mainly contribute to the analysis of the results generated within this project.

PIRAGUA addresses the characterisation of the hydrological cycle in the Pyrenees in order to improve the adaptation capacity of the territories to the challenges imposed by climate change and to support the investment aimed at adapting water resource management to climate change. PIRAGUA is aligned with the strategy of crossborder cooperation of the Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory (OPCC), and develops actions focused on: improvement of knowledge and the development of regional databases; establishment and monitoring of key indicators; elaboration of future scenarios of availability water resources; development of pilot experiences in the fields of reservoir management, forest exploitation and others; estimating the costs associated with climate change; development of recommendations on sectoral adaptations; transfer of the results to the actors involved in the management of water resources in the territories of the POCTEFA programme. The territorial challenges addressed by PIRAGUA are in line with the objectives of the 2nd Action Plan of the Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory (OPCC) regarding the WATER axis: 

• To carry out a JOINT CHARACTERISATION OF THE WATER RESOURCES of the Pyrenees which will make it possible to know the evolution of surface and ground waters and their variations.
• To know better WATER RESOURCES ARE USED in the Pyrenees, on the scale of the entire POCTEFA territory.
• To quantify FUTURE PYRENEAN WATER RESOURCES, based on different climate change scenarios.
• To Identify and propose ADAPTATION ACTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE in relation to water resources.

The person hired for this contract will contribute to the quantification of the future Pyrenean water resources.

Requirements

To be admitted to this selection process, candidates must meet the following requirements by the deadline for submission of  applications:

• Be nationals of any member state of the European Union or, in the case of citizens of non-EU countries, prove legal residence and work permit in Spain.
• Be of legal age.
• Prove official degree of doctor in Physics, Hydrology, Meteorology, Climate, Civil Engineering or similar; or certify that the thesis has been successfully defended.

Applications

Interested persons who meet the requirements, may apply to join  the offer by sending an e-mail to the electronic address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. including the code "HidroClim-PD" in the subject line.

The deadline for submitting applications is August 23, 2021 at 23:59 CET.

With the application submitted to take part in this process, the candidate declares that he/she meets the requirements established in the THIRD item of the Requirements (see complete rules below), attaching the following documentation:

• Curriculum vitae.
• Doctorate degree (or certificate proving that the defense of the thesis has been carried out and successfully passed).
• Photocopy of the national ID card, passport or any other legal identity document in the European Union
• Motivation letter of no more than four pages..
• Letters of recommendation (optional).
• List of scientific publications of the candidate (doctoral thesis, project reports and / or scientific articles). In the case of reports, the doctoral thesis and articles that have not been published in open access mode, an electronic copy of the documents will be attached.

By submitting the application, applicants consent to the processing of personal data necessary to participate in this call and for the processing of the selection process, in accordance with current legislation.

Complete rules

The complete rules of this call can be found at:

http://www.obsebre.es/images/HydroClim/bases-contractacio-postdoc-hydroclim2021-signades.pdf

Contact

For any enquiry, please contact Dr. Pere Quintana-Seguí (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) adding HydroClim-PD to the subject line.