Job No. 156760
- Job Title:
- 25-119: Meteorological Satellite Applied Mathematician
- Employer:
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Colorado State University
- Location:
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Fort Collins , CO
- Posting Date:
- 16-Oct-2025
- Description:
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Description of Work Unit
The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) is a multi-million dollar research organization located on CSU’s Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. CIRA is a cooperative institute (CI) that is also a research department within CSU’s College of Engineering, in partnership with the Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), CSU, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit. Expanding on this Vision, our Mission is to serve as a nexus for multi-disciplinary cooperation among CI and NOAA research scientists, University faculty, staff and students in the context of NOAA-specified research theme areas in satellite applications for weather/climate forecasting. Important bridging elements of the CI include the communication of research findings to the international scientific community, transition of applications and capabilities to NOAA operational users, education and training programs for operational user proficiency, outreach programs to K-12 education and the general public for environmental literacy, and understanding and quantifying the societal impacts of NOAA research.
Position Summary
The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) on the Foothills Campus at Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, CO, seeks to hire a Research Scientist 1 / Applied Mathematician to develop satellite retrieval algorithms from satellite data (e.g., Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)). The individual in this position will support the applied mathematical development of remote-sensing applications in low-light visible remote sensing (e.g., Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB)), support wildfire forecast modeling activities, and apply novel methods (including physical and machine-learning based techniques) to cloud and aerosol retrievals.
Specifically, the individual in this position will report to the Project Principle Investigator and work with a variety of remote sensing data and employ both mathematical algorithms and applications as well as new machine learning methods, to support CIRA’s research funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The position provides an opportunity for a motivated researcher to explore innovative approaches in several high-impact, cutting-edge applied mathematical satellite data applications while working in a highly stimulating and interdisciplinary and collaborative team environment. Target projects include:
Support new application development using nighttime data from the VIIRS/DNB imagery of city lights, lunar reflection, and other sources of natural and artificial nighttime illumination
Support CIRA’s ongoing applied mathematical development of Lunar Irradiance Modeling for the research community
Support CIRA’s ongoing wildfire observation and forecasting research
Support CIRA’s Cloud Team research
Evaluate new products using multi-sensor data analysis from both in-situ and satellite measurements and demonstrate the results.
This position is part of CIRA’s Meteorological Satellite Application Team. The individual in this positon will regularly report to their CIRA Supervisor and will be mentored by Principal Investigators (PIs) of the aforementioned projects and research teams. The intended trajectory of this position is scientific leadership at CIRA, and the individual in this position will be supported strongly along their path toward achieving their research and career goals. In-person (non-remote) presence is strongly preferred for this position to maximize collaborations with on-site teams, and a hybrid office/telework schedule may be negotiated.
Required Job Qualifications
In your cover letter, please specifically address EACH required qualification as it relates to your experience. An application without a cover letter that addresses each of the required qualifications for this position will not be considered further after review by the search committee.
Ph.D. in applied mathematics, geoinformatics, remote sensing, or atmospheric science plus 1-2 years of post-degree experience working with meteorological data sets;
Experience conducting scientific research with the VIIRS Day/Night Band;
Experience with Machine Learning tools (e.g., Random Forest and Neural Networks);
Experience working on high-performance computing clusters.
Preferred Job Qualifications
In your cover letter, please specifically address the applicable preferred qualifications for this position. A cover letter that fails to address the preferred qualifications for this position will not be considered further after review by the search committee.
Experience working with Low-Earth Orbit satellite data from VIIRS, MODIS, Landsat and ASTER.
Experience with satellite data analysis and algorithm development for fire detection and weather applications.
Experience with geospatial data processing;
Experience with high-performance computing clusters;
Programming/work experience using: Python, Fortran, C, MATLAB, Linux Shell, Git, GitHub/GitLab;
Ability to communicate well, orally and written, and across disciplinary boundaries;
Demonstrated experience working in a collaborative team environment.
Essential Duties
Job Duty Category Applied Research
Duty/Responsibility
Assist in developing VIIRS/DNB-based applications including basic science, data gathering, and testing for baseline performance;
Work on ancillary data masking fields (like VIIRS Cloud Mask and Snow Cover Mask);
Become familiar with the CIRA Lunar Irradiance Model and support its improved performance by comparing to independent datasets and integrating physical factors (e.g., libration);
Develop AI and machine learning models for multilayer cloud and cloud profiling applications;
Analyze multi-sensor data using applied mathematical methodologies and combining moderate- and high-resolution satellite data to support applications to characterize hazardous weather and advise forecasters in time-critical decision making environments.
Percentage Of Time 50
Job Duty Category Independent Research
Duty/Responsibility
Provide mathematical methodologies to specific independent tasks on scientific proposals that align with CIRA’s research themes;
Develop scientific ideas and skills for future proposals leading to an independent research program.
- Contact information:
- Colorado State University
- Fort Collins, CO 80523
- United States
- Employer's Website:
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