Subject: Aeolian transport across scales, from landscape and dune dynamics to dust emission.

Employer: Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) – http://www.ipgp.fr/fr

In collaboration with: Laboratoire Inter-universitaire des Systèmes Atmospherique (LISA) – http://terre.lisa.u-pec.fr/fr, Department of Geopgraphy of the King’s College London (KCL) – https://www.kcl.ac.uk/geography.

Research team: Clément NARTEAU & Laurie BARRIER (IPGP); Gilles BERGAMETTI, Béatrice MARTICORENA, Benoît LAURENT, & Christel BOUET (LISA) ; Andreas Baas (KCL).

Location: Paris, France

Contacts: Clément NARTEAU (narteau@ipgp.fr) & Laurie BARRIER (barrier@ipgp.fr)

Required education: PhD in Earth sciences, Atmospheric sciences, Physics, or similar fields.

Position description: IPGP invites applications for a postdoctoral research position. Appointment start date no later than July 1, 2023, and the appointment is for 18 months.

Funding by: UnivEarthS LabEx of Université Paris Cité (https://u-paris.fr/en/laboratories-of-excellence/ and https://www.univearths.fr/en/home/)

How to apply: Please contact Dr. Clément Narteau (narteau@ipgp.fr) & Laurie BARRIER (barrier@ipgp.fr) with “AEOLAND Postdoc application” in the subject line. Include a CV with a short research statement summarizing research experience. Application review will begin immediately and will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Aeolian research is based on two main themes, dust and dunes, which are closely linked by transport laws derived from the physics of wind-blown particles. Nevertheless, as the time scales of dust emissions are many orders of magnitude shorter than those associated with dune field dynamics, the agreement between the corresponding transport properties remains poorly quantified. The objective of the AEOLAND project is to combine information on aeolian transport processes at different space and time scales (from 101 to 106 meters and years) to converge on consistent scenarios for sand and dust exchanges on continental surfaces, but also with the atmosphere. Such a transdisciplinary research approach aims to bridge the gaps between atmospheric dust (Laurent et al., 2005), dunes and aeolian landscape dynamics (Chanteloube et al., 2022). We propose to perform regional mass balances estimated from morpho-sedimentary markers to develop consistent scenarios for dust emissions and sand fluxes over large space and time scales that integrate the variability of meteorological events. These scenarios will be tested and parameterized at small scales against field observations and climate reanalysis outputs, so that they can be extrapolated over a wide range of intermediate scales on Earth and other planetary bodies.
The postdoc will integrate into an exciting team of researchers from two academic institutions (IPGP and LISA). The funding comes from the UnivEarthS LabEx program of Université Paris Cité, which is designed to set up a unique high-level teaching and training platform in the sciences of the Universe including comparative planetary research. The postdoc will lead two major efforts of the AEOLAND project: (1) the quantification of the impact of aeolian processes on arid environments from transport and morpho-sedimentary analyses at time scales ranging from those of dune systems (>102 yr) to that of landscapes (>104 yr), and (2) the cross-calibration the sand and dust transporting events over a wide range of time scales (101 s – 101 yr) using observations and numerical data. The postdoc will also engage in linking these two aspects, which is the cornerstone of the project, in order to promote this interdisciplinary research approach over the long term.
Ideally, the applicant should have: (i) a background in transport processes; (ii) experience in computer programing (Python, Matlab); (iii) independent research and teamwork skills; and (iv) communication skills. Priority will be also given to applicants with experience in any one, or a combination of, the following topics: expert knowledge of statistical analysis of geospatial and/or meteorological data; modeling of surface processes with geomorphic transport laws; application or development of remote sensing data and processing for Earth and/or atmospheric research; field-based data collection linked to surface processes; sediment transport, desert landscape and/or dune dynamics.

References:
Chanteloube et al., 2022 – https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2021GL097342
Laurent et al., 2005 – https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2004JD005013