Missions

The research investigator is in charge of improving the parameterizations of air-sea carbon exchanges in the next generation of Earth System Models, for the OptimESM project.

Activities

- Implementation, testing and evaluation of new parameterizations of air-sea carbon exchanges
- Development of diagnostics to assess the realism of IPSL climate model regarding air-sea carbon exchanges
- Application of these diagnostics to a set of numerical simulations to quantify improvements in C-cycle in the new IPSL climate model
- Diffusion of scientific results in journals and conferences

Skills

- PhD in oceanography, climate modeling, marine biogeochemistry, or a related discipline.
- Strong experience in numerical modeling (oceanic, biogeochemical, or climate).
- Proficiency in a scientific programming language (Fortran, Python, or equivalent).
- Familiarity with high-performance computing (HPC) environments.
- Good understanding of marine biogeochemical processes and air–sea gas exchange mechanisms.
- Skills in data analysis and visualization (Python, MATLAB, R, etc.).
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (the working language of the project).
- Scientific rigor, autonomy, and ability to work effectively in a team.
- Strong motivation to contribute to the development of next-generation climate models.

Work Context

The ocean plays a central role in regulating the Earth's climate by absorbing a significant fraction of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted into the atmosphere. Quantifying the oceanic carbon sink and its future variability strongly depends on how the processes controlling air–sea CO₂ exchanges are represented in models, particularly those related to the oceanic surface skin layer, precipitation, and high-frequency atmospheric variability.
This position is funded by the CNRS as part of the OPTIMESM project, financed by the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe program (Grant Agreement ID 101081193). The candidate will have the opportunity to work in close collaboration with other project partners, and to attend general assemblies and specific project meetings.
The work will be carried out at IPSL's Centre de Modélisation du Climat, which is responsible for preparing a new model, IPSLCM7. The latter will feed into the CMIP7 model intercomparison project, which will produce, among other things, the climate projections that will feature in forthcoming IPCC reports. The OptimESM project supports these preparations by bringing together the parallel efforts of 4 climate modeling centers, including IPSL.
The successful candidate will be responsible for integrating, evaluating, and testing new parameterizations of air–sea carbon exchanges, building upon recent developments, including:
• the representation of the skin layer (Bellenger et al., 2023, JGR – Oceans),
• the role of precipitation (Parc et al., 2024, Nature Geoscience),
• the effects of high-frequency atmospheric variability (Dombret et al., in review, Biogeosciences).
These developments will be implemented and tested within the IPSL ocean model and coupled climate configurations, in order to quantify their impact on the oceanic carbon sink under different contexts (interannual variability, future climate projections, mCDR simulations, etc.).
The postdoctoral researcher may also investigate additional processes affecting air–sea CO₂ exchanges (e.g., bubble effects, surfactants, etc.) and will collaborate closely with ocean and biogeochemical modeling teams within IPSL.

Situation de l'emploi et conditions :
The position will be jointly supervised by Laurent Bopp (IPSL, LMD), Hugo Bellenger (IPSL, LMD), and Christian Ethé (IPSL).
The postdoctoral researcher will be based at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD), located at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS), Paris, with regular interactions with other IPSL laboratories (notably at Sorbonne Université).
The work will take place in a highly collaborative scientific environment, in close connection with the European partners of the OptimESM project.