Joint Assimilation of satellite CO2 and vegetation Fluorescence data to constrain the carbon budget of land surface models (JACOF)

The land and ocean remove half the carbon dioxide (CO2) we add to the atmosphere each year, greatly reducing the severity of climate change. However, as climate itself changes this uptake, especially the land component, is at risk.

To understand this risk we must observe how CO2 uptake changes with time, understand the key processes and embed that understanding in predictive models.

Project goals

This project will apply machine learning and two state-of-the-art streams of new satellite data to map recent patterns of CO2 uptake by the land and project this improved knowledge into prediction.

The project will be carried out in parallel between the Laboratory for the Science of Climate and Environment (LSCE) near Paris and the University of Melbourne (UoM) using two world-leading models and contributing to an open-source data analysis system to which others will be invited to contribute.

The LSCE project will focus primarily on the development of the assimilation of atmospheric satellite CO2 data through the use of a Machine Learning based approach; while the UoM based project will focus more on the assimilation of Solar Induced Fluorescence (SIF) from terrestrial vegetation.

Both teams will use independent land surface models and transport models to characterise the impact of model structural errors on land carbon budgets.

Supervision team

The University of Melbourne – Professor Peter Rayner

CNRS, Laboratory for the Science of Climate and Environment – Professor Philippe Peylin

*Click on the researcher's name above to learn more about their publication and grant successes.

Who we are looking for

We are seeking a PhD candidate with the following skills:

Further details

• The PhD candidates will benefit from the combined expertise of the project supervisors, and the embedding into two research environments.
• One PhD project will be based at the Laboratory for the Science of Climate and Environment with a minimum 12-month stay at the University of Melbourne. The other PhD project will be based at the University of Melbourne with a minimum 12-month stay at the SUBATECH laboratory in Nantes.
• The two candidates will be enrolled in the PhD program at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yveline and in the PhD at the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

To apply for this joint PhD opportunity, and to view the entry requirements, visit How to apply.