Background/Overview
The Earth’s radiation belts are a highly variable radiation environment, where the electron flux can change by orders of magnitude in hours, as the result of changing conditions emanating from the Sun. Understanding, modelling and ultimately predicting, this environment is important as many of the satellites that society relies on orbit through this region and are susceptible to damage or disruption by high-energy electrons from the belts. The Space Weather and Atmosphere (SWA) team at BAS is looking to hire a Space Weather Research Assistant to investigate the causes of the variability of the Earth’s radiation belts.
Purpose
The main purpose of the job is to run the BAS radiation belt model for different physical sub-grid models and space weather scenarios and compare the results against data. The intention is to assess which sub-grid models lead to an improvement in the reconstruction of the radiation belts and whether they improve the forecasting skill. The job will also include help in preparing reports and papers on the results.
While a knowledge of radiation belt physics would be an advantage, we welcome applications from candidates with appropriate backgrounds in related fields such as other aspects of space weather, solar physics, plasma physics, fusion physics and astrophysics.
Duties
- To run the BAS radiation belt model (BAS-RBM) for different sub-grid models and compare output against data
- To manage large amounts of data and files on BAS computer systems
- To provide regular updates and presentations at monthly intervals
- To help prepare reports and papers on the results
Further details about the opportunity, in this link.