PhD student “3D Chemical Lifetimes in the Middle Atmosphere” (f/m/d)

Our mission is to advance the scientific knowledge of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere by developing and exploiting expertise in atmospheric physics, instrumentation, analysis and modelling to serve emerging societal needs – such as questions regarding climate change. On the regional level, we closely cooperate with the University of Rostock and are an integral part of the teaching program of the Institute of Physics. Further, we are networked with the research community worldwide. As an institute of the Leibniz Association, we distinguish ourselves as a modern and innovative employer that highly values family friendliness, equality of opportunity and flexibility.

At the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), a part-time position (75%) in the Department “Modelling of Atmospheric Processes” is available as

PhD student, “3D Chemical Lifetimes in the Middle Atmosphere” (f/m/d)

The position is offered for three years with a start date as soon as possible. The salary is according to class EG 13 TV-L. The position is funded by the DFG project CLiMAte3D.

About CLiMAte3D:

The chemical characteristic time (CCT) is the time during which the concentration of a given constituent changes by a factor e. The concept of characteristic times is widely used: i) to understand which factors – advection, turbulence or chemistry – are important for changes in a given chemical compound in a given region at a given time, ii) to identify which sources of atmospheric variability, e.g. planetary waves (PWs), gravity waves (GWs), tides, result in variations of a given chemical compound, iii) to assess the degree to which chemical constituents are in their equilibrium, which is often an important assumption to construct climate change scenarios. Despite all these applications of the characteristic time concept, there are a number of unsolved problems: i) the reciprocal loss term is widely used to assess CCT, but it does not include production, which is rather important for atmospheric chemistry, ii) until now the CCT has only been investigated for 1D and 2D cases, iii) studies focused on midnight and noon, but CCTs of a large number of chemical constituents have a diurnal cycle, iv) similarly, studies focused on equinox and solstice, but CCTs have an annual cycle, v) the effects of GWs and PWs are unknown, vi) there is no information about CCT dependence on the 11-year solar cycle.

You will conduct a comprehensive global investigation of CCT based on 3D time-dependent modelling. The comparison with characteristic advective and diffusive transport times renders the results directly applicable to analyses of satellite, rocket-born, and ground-based observations. You will study both traditional and so-called effective CCT, which includes production, specifically i) 3D annual distributions and diurnal variations of CCT, ii), impacts of PWs, iii) nonlinear effects of dynamics on chemistry, iv) influence of the 11-year Lyman-α solar cycle. This research is critical for a reliable interpretation of measurements, numerical simulations and construction of climate change scenarios.

• good Diploma/Master's degree in chemistry, physics, meteorology, or a related field
• interest in atmospheric dynamics and chemistry
• good communication skills, ability to work autonomously and self-responsible
• fluency in English as working language

• an attractive working place near the Baltic Sea
• modern equipment
• engagement in an international work environment
• participation in the company pension scheme (VBL)
• employment relationship in accordance with the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federal States (TV-L)
• flexible working hours and mobile working within the framework of the applicable regulations
• family office