CASCaDE: Computational Assessments of Scenarios of Change for the Delta Ecosystem
CASCaDE II Hydrodynamic Modeling Postdoctoral PositionSummary: The USGS in Menlo Park, California is seeking a post-doc with hydrodynamic modeling expertise to work with a team assessing potential responses of the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary to climate and structural changes. This position is at a GS-12 level, begins in March 2012, and lasts up to 3 years depending on performance. The deadline to apply is January 25. Apply at USAJOBS.
The San Francisco Estuary provides a unique opportunity for scientists to contribute to the development of urgently needed, science-based solutions to the complex, intertwined issues of a collapsing ecosystem and the need to secure California’s water supply. The freshwater tidal portion of the estuary—the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta—is both the fragile hub of California’s water delivery system and the site of a critical ecosystem that has been in sharp decline in recent years.
Over the coming decades, the Delta will potentially be subject to several major changes. Climate change is likely to produce long-term changes in water levels, the magnitude and timing of freshwater inflows, and water temperatures. Earthquakes, continued levee subsidence, and sea-level rise are predicted to result in an increasing occurrence of major Delta levee breaches. A combination of new freshwater conveyance structures and possible ecosystem restoration actions may significantly alter the hydrodynamics, water quality, and ecology of the Delta.
The goal of this research position is to apply a hydrodynamic model to evaluate possible futures for the Delta under scenarios that include these influences. The researcher will work with an interdisciplinary group of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and collaborators whose ongoing work builds on a long history of interdisciplinary science in this system.
The researcher will have access to a new, state-of-the-art version of the Delft three-dimensional hydrodynamic model through an existing USGS-Deltares cooperative agreement. This model is currently being developed and applied to the San Francisco Bay–Delta. It uses a new hybrid grid approach ideally suited to the broad range of geometric length scales characteristic of the Delta (that is, open-water areas versus narrow, sinuous channels). Long-term data sets collected by the USGS and other agencies are available for use in performing historical simulations, and against which to compare future projections.
Specific duties will include:
- Use a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model (Delft UNSTRUC) to characterize and understand the effects of changes in climate and infrastructure on hydrodynamics and transport in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Design model simulations to test hypotheses and answer critical scientific questions
- Within a research team, function as a lead researcher on modeling of hydrodynamics and dynamics of salt and water temperature
- Collaborate as a member of a multidisciplinary team in conducting above named research; design modeling experiments that will provide physical information (e.g. residence times) useful to team biologists, ecologists, ecotoxicologists, and sediment dynamicists; collaborate with team climatologists, hydrologists, and others to utilize their model outputs and/or measurements as hydrodynamic model inputs
- Analyze and interpret hydrodynamic model output to answer critical scientific questions
- Present scientific methods and findings in publications and presentations
Interested candidates may apply for this position at USAJOBS.
For more information, contact Lisa Lucas or Noah Knowles.
