PostDoc in Modelling drought indices and forest ecosystem water fluxes 80-100% (f/m/d)

The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL is part of the ETH Domain. Approximately 600 people work on the sustainable use and protection of the environment and on the handling of natural hazards.

The Research Unit Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry investigates the climate change impacts on soil biodiversity, soil functions and ecosystem processes. In the Research Group Biogeochemistry, we offer a position for two years as a

Extremely dry and hot summers will be more frequent in Switzerland and will change water availability and its fluxes in the critical zone. Therefore, modelling water availability and drought stress using mechanistic Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere (SVAT) models is crucial to inform stakeholders about the current drought stress situation and to project climate change impacts on forest health. This project aims to implement a real-time forecast of water availability in the Swiss forest and to provide an estimate of the future development of water availability with climate scenarios. Based on the existing, calibrated SVAT model LWFBrook90R, you will establish the daily data flow from meteorological forcing data to the display of maps on a webpage. Further, you will force the model with climate scenarios to project water availability changes and drought stress under different RCPs. Finally, you publish the results in international journals and present the results at conferences.

You hold a PhD degree in hydrology, environmental sciences or a related field. Further, you have a strong background in hydrological modelling and excellent programming skills in R. Additionally, you are experienced in creating web pages and handling and managing large data sets. Good skills in scientific writing are essential. You are ambitious, used to a high standard of independent, structured, and careful work, and have a high level of self-motivation and good team spirit. 

Please send your complete application to Beatrice Lamprecht, Human Resources WSL, by uploading the requested documents through our webpage. Applications via email will not be considered. Katrin Meusburger, katrin.meusburger@wsl.ch, will be happy to answer any questions or offer further information. The WSL strives to increase the proportion of women in its employment, which is why qualified women are particularly called upon to apply for this position.