Missions

Convection-Permitting Regional Climate Models (CP-RCMs) have been developed over the last ten years to study climate evolutions and local impacts on certain key regions, with a fine spatial resolution (1 to 4 km). This kilometer-scale resolution provides a better description of terrain, coastlines and surface heterogeneities, as well as land use and land cover. It also enables us to refine the physics of regional climate models and to resolve certain phenomena explicitly. Two major areas of application today are the study of heavy precipitation events thanks to resolved deep convection, and the study of urban climate in interaction with climate change thanks to horizontal resolution and coupling with dedicated surface models (Lucas-Picher et al. 2021).
As part of the European I4C project (IMPETUS4CHANGE, detailed below), simulations will be performed over a domain covering Western Europe at 2.5 km resolution with the CP-RCM AROME (Caillaud et al. 2021) coupled with the SURFEX land surface modeling system (Masson et al. 2013), including the TEB urban canopy model (Masson 2000, Lemonsu et al. 2012) for the study of cities. Studies carried out with AROME - in its previous configuration - have notably demonstrated its ability to simulate major so-called "Mediterranean" high precipitation events (Caillaud et al. 2021) and urban heat islands over major French cities (Michau et al. 2023). However, certain deficiencies inherent in the model have been highlighted, notably in the modeling of global incident radiation (Lucas-Picher et al. 2023), and surface response over certain regions.
The main tasks of the proposed position will be (1) to evaluate the performance of the AROME model in its new configuration (forced by ERA5 reanalysis), in particular for the simulation of local extreme events and urban effects, (2) to improve, if necessary, the physics of the atmospheric model and surface parameterizations, and (3) to analyze European climate change over the coming decades, with a particular focus on climatic phenomena affecting urban areas. Nevertheless, the successful candidate will have a certain degree of freedom regarding research questions and the scientific analysis of climate simulations. The work will be carried out within the framework of the European IMPETUS4CHANGE project, in which a set of climate simulations of the same type will be available for analysis (see below).

Références bibliographiques
Caillaud et al. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-020-05558-y
Lemonsu et al. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06647-w
Lemonsu et al. 2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-5-1377-2012
Lucas-Picher et al. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06637-y
Lucas-Picher et al. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.731
Masson et al. 2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-929-2013
Masson 2000, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002463829265
Michau et al. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101386

Activités

The work proposed includes the following activities: work on computer, participation in team meetings and project meetings, coordination with the project partners, oral or poster communication at scientific conferences, publication of scientific articles, contribution to project deliverables.

Compétences

- A Ph.D. in atmospheric, oceanic or climate sciences, obtained before the starting date of the contract
- Experience in at least one of the following scientific fields is expected: European climate study, regional climate modeling, study and modeling of land surface processes (especially for urban areas), surface-atmosphere interactions and mesoscale physics
- Demonstrated programming skills (e.g. R, NCL, python or equivalent) and confirmed experience of working in a Linux environment (shell scripts, ...). Experience in high-performance computing and Fortran would be appreciated
- Experience with climate data manipulation (e.g. netcdf format, nco, cdo, …) will be highly appreciated but is not mandatory
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Practice of the French language would be convenient but is not mandatory

Contexte de travail

The Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM, http://www.umr-cnrm.fr/ ) is a joint Météo-France and CNRS laboratory located in Toulouse, one of the most liveable and vibrant cities in France. It is one of the leading climate science research institutes in Europe. It provides a highly international and interdisciplinary environment for conducting scientific research as well as access to great scientific facilities.
Within the laboratory, the successful fellow will work at the interface between the regional climate modeling research team (https://www.umr-cnrm.fr/spip.php?article1035) and the city-meteorology interactions research team (https://www.umr-cnrm.fr/spip.php?article363), under the principal scientific direction of Aude Lemonsu (https://www.umr-cnrm.fr/spip.php?article261), Cécile Caillaud (https://www.umr-cnrm.fr/spip.php?article1093) and Samuel Somot (https://www.umr-cnrm.fr/spip.php?article437).

The advertised position is funded by the European HORIZON EUROPE project IMPETUS4CHANGE (https://www.norceresearch.no/en/projects/impetus4change) which involves many leading European research institutes in climate sciences. IMPETUS4CHANGE will make significant scientific advances that will enhance our collective ability to act on and adapt to near-term climate change. The overarching objective of I4C is to improve the quality, accessibility and usability of near-term climate information and services at local to regional scales – where impacts are most keenly felt and on-the-ground adaptation is implemented – to strengthen and support end-user adaptation planning and action.

Informations complémentaires

The successful applicant will be contracted by CNRS and will be based at the “Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM)” (Météo-France, Toulouse, France, http://www.umr-cnrm.fr/). For full consideration, applicants are asked to submit:
- a detailed statement of their motivations and research interests in relation to the missions detailed in the call
- a curriculum vitae including research experience, publications and conferences, computing skills and language practises
- the names, telephone and email address of at least 2 referees.


For more details about this call, please contact:
Samuel SOMOT
Météo-France/CNRM/GMGEC/MOSCA
Tél. : +33 (0)5 61 07 93 62
Email : samuel.somot@meteo.fr
Aude LEMONSU
Météo-France/CNRM/GMME/VILLE
Tél. : +33 (0)5 61 07 97 52
Email : aude.lemonsu@meteo.fr