PhD Fellowship in Antarctic Climate Modelling in Grenoble, France

June 15, 2010

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Job Description: Candidates are invited to apply for a three-year PhD Fellowship funded by région Rhônes- Alpes for conducting a PhD at LEGI (Grenoble, France) by Oct. 2010. The candidates should hold a MSc in one of the following felds: geophysical fuid mechanics, applied mathematics,physical oceanography, dynamical meteorology. Applications will be sent by email to JulienLe Sommer (lesommer@hmg.inpg.fr) before July, 1st, 2010.
Southern Hemisphere Atmosphere-Ocean-Sea Ice interactions: Exploring the role of Antarctic Sea Ice in the Climate System Julien Le Sommer (LEGI) and Hubert Gallée (LGGE)The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the main mode of variability in the Southern Hemisphere.
The phases of the SAM are associated with the contraction of the stratospheric polar vortex whichinduces coherent changes across the atmosphere of the Southern Hemisphere. Climate modelspredict that the positive phases of the SAM will be more common in coming decades as a result ofglobal environmental change. The Antarctic seasonal ice zone is the site of important exchangesbetween the ocean and atmosphere. These exchanges of heat and freshwater are responsible forthe formation of the densest water masses of the global ocean. They also have an impact on themass balance of the antarctic ice-sheet, and thus on the sea-level. The response of air-seaexchanges in this region to phases of the SAM is a major source of uncertainty for the global
climate system, particularly with respect to the carbon cycle and the water cycle. This uncertaintyis partly due to the low density of observations but also to the imperfect representation ofphysical processes and multi-scale coupling between the ocean, the sea ice and the atmosphere inmodelling systems.In this thesis, we propose to use a regional, coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice modelling systemwith high spatial resolution to evaluate the response of heat and freshwater fuxes to the phasesof the SAM in the antarctic seasonal ice zone. We are particularly interested in assessing theuncertainty of the response induced by the choice of the representation of sea ice in the modelingsystem. In a frst phase of work, the student will analyse available simulations of ocean-sea ice toidentify the response of air-sea fuxes in this system. He / she will then implement the modelingsystem and conduct sensitivity experiments for three periods of time representative of thedifferent phases of the SAM. A third phase of work will be devoted to several sensitivityexperiments with respect to the key parameters of the sea-ice model. We propose to study the
impact of both dynamic factors (law rheology, viscosity ice, roughness) and thermodynamic factors(thermal conductivity of snow, albedo, factor of ice accretion ).The proposed work will be conducted within the MEOM team at LEGI in close collaboration withthe LGGE. This PhD will be conducted in a motivating environment which is articulated with both the DRAKKAR project and the SouthernCross project.. Both teams at LEGI and LGGE will providethe necessary scientifc and technical guidance and offer opportunities for internationalcollaborations.

Scholarship Tags: Fellowship, France, PhD