The Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht (IMAU) is looking for a motivated PhD student researcher (m/f) to study the surface mass budget of the Antarctic Peninsula under extreme climate change scenarios. Since the 1970's, ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) have retreated or even collapsed. The retreat coincides with a multi-decade period of strong atmospheric warming in this region. Ice shelf mass loss is linked to oceanographic and atmospheric forcing. Increased basal melting by warm ocean currents results in thinning of the ice shelf, while increased surface melting due to increased atmospheric temperatures results in meltwater ponding and possible catastrophic collapse through hydrofracture. Both processes still carry large uncertainties; e.g. how large are the current melt fluxes and how will they change in a warming climate.
The main objective of this project is to reduce the uncertainties in the atmospheric contribution to ice shelf instability. To that end, observations of atmospheric and snow conditions will be used to evaluate a regional climate model applied at high spatial resolution to the AP region. The results will be analysed for the present-day climate in terms of melt, snowfall, and firn air content. The regional climate model will then be forced with several future climate scenarios, exploring the sensitivity of the melt, snowfall and firn conditions in a changing climate.
This work is performed in the framework of the Netherlands Polar Program (NWO-ALW, NPP-NAAP).
Qualifications
Applicants preferably have a strong background in meteorology/geophysics at the MSc level and have experience with numerical models and FORTRAN90 programming on UNIX-based computer systems. Good English oral and writing skills are essential.
For more information contact Dr. C.H. Tijm-Reijmer (email: c.h.tijm-reijmer@uu.nl)
or check the following website:
Also go to the website above to apply for this position.
Application deadline is 25 October.
With kind regards,
Carleen Reijmer
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Dr. C.H. Tijm-Reijmer
Utrecht University
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (IMAU)
Visiting address:
Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands
Correspondence address:
PO Box 80 005, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 30 253 3273
Fax: +31 30 254 3163
Email: c.h.tijm-reijmer@uu.nl
