Research and Development on Atmospheric Aerosols Datasets in support of AERONET program

Organization
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Reference Code
0268-NPP-MAR26-GSFC-EarthSci
How to Apply

All applications must be submitted in Zintellect

Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements: How to Apply | NASA Postdoctoral Program (orau.org)

A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes:

  1. Research proposal
  2. Three letters of recommendation
  3. Official doctoral transcript documents
Application Deadline
4/2/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description

About the NASA Postdoctoral Program

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

Description:

This opportunity is closed to applicants who are Senior Fellows (5-years or more past PhD).

The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) program is a federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established by NASA and PHOTONS (PHOtométrie pour le Traitement Opérationnel de Normalisation Satellitaire; Univ. of Lille 1CNES, and CNRS-INSU) and is greatly expanded by networks (e.g., RIMAAeroSpanAEROCANNEON, and CARSNET) and collaborators from national agencies, institutes, universities, individual scientists, and partners. For almost 30 years, the project has provided long-term, continuous, and readily accessible public domain database of aerosol optical, microphysical and radiative properties for aerosol research and characterization, validation of satellite retrievals, and synergism with other databases. The network imposes standardization of instrumentscalibrationprocessing , and distribution.

AERONET data have been extensively used in atmospheric aerosol research, air quality, and climate applications and required continuous innovation in improving the accuracies of existing datasets and developing new datasets. This opportunity is for candidates interested in performing research using AERONET measurements, developing cloud mask algorithms, evaluating and comparing AERONET products with other ground measurements, standardizing data formats, and developing new data applications. The use of modern technologies such as machine and deep learning methods, data fusion approaches, and cloud computing is highly encouraged in research and development.

A successful candidate should have a degree in one of the following STEM fields Earth or/and Atmospheric sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or Meteorology, and have advanced programming skills working with big data (e.g. Python, C, etc.).

Field of Science: Earth Science

Advisors:
Pawan Gupta
pawan.gupta@nasa.gov
(256) 468-7651

 

Applications with citizens from Designated Countries will not be accepted at this time, unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the United States. A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.

Eligibility is currently open to:

  • U.S. Citizens;
  • U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR);
  • Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and,
  • Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status

 

Questions about this opportunity? Please email npp@orau.org

Point of Contact
Eligibility Requirements
  • Degree: Doctoral Degree.
NPP
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