Exploring Venus’ atmosphere using data assimilation

About the Project

These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying.

The space agencies NASA and ESA both plan to send spacecraft to explore Venus in the early 2030s [1]. One of the goals of these missions is to understand Venus’ dynamic atmosphere, and they will carry instruments to make measurements of atmospheric properties. A powerful way to combine our best theoretical understanding of a planetary atmosphere with observations made remotely or in situ is to use data assimilation. This is a rigorous statistical technique used to combine a forecast model with observations in a way that takes into account the uncertainties in both and produces a result that is closer to the true (unknowable) atmospheric state than either the forecast or observations by themselves. Data assimilation is a crucial part of weather forecasting on Earth, and is also in use for other planets, particularly for Mars’ atmosphere, where it has been in use since the 1990s. Some work has been done assimilating observations from Venus, and this is a growing field [2].

We already have a data assimilation system set up for Mars’ atmosphere, using the Mars Planetary Climate Model (Mars PCM) as the forecast model, and the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter for assimilation [3, 4]. We have significant expertise in both and collaborate directly with the developers of the PCM. The student will start with this system and adapt it for Venus using the Venus version of the PCM, with the initial goal of assimilating observations from Venus into the Venus PCM. Venus’ atmosphere has unique properties and behaviour that will provide challenges that are quite different from those found at Mars. Its atmosphere is in a fundamentally different flow regime to Mars’ atmosphere, and different dynamical processes dominate its climate [5].

Once the scheme is up and running, the student will have some freedom in the direction of the research. Possibilities include reanalysis of existing observations, such as from Venus Express or Akatsuki, or using synthetic observations in an Observing System Simulation Experiment to evaluate the impact of future observations on our ability to constrain Venus’ atmospheric state. It may also be possible to investigate alternative methods for assimilation, depending on how they might be applicable to the atmosphere of Venus, or apply machine learning techniques, where relevant.

This is a great opportunity for a computationally minded and mathematically strong student with an interest in planetary science or astrophysics to become involved in an area of planetary science that will develop a high profile over the coming decade. The work will make use of High Performance Computing facilities where appropriate, either within the University of Aberdeen or at a national centre. Prior programming experience is essential, and Linux experience will be helpful.

Informal enquiries can be made by contacting Dr R Young (roland.young@abdn.ac.uk)

Decisions will be based on academic merit. The successful applicant should have, or expect to obtain, a UK Honours Degree at 2.1 (or equivalent) in Physics or Applied Mathematics. Applicants whose undergraduate degree is in a related field with a strong mathematical component may be considered. The ideal student will already have taken courses in fluid dynamics and atmospheric physics. The project is primarily computational and a strong aptitude for programming and prior scientific programming experience is required. The ideal student will already have experience using a compiled language (preferably Fortran or C) and experience with a high-level language such as Python or MATLAB.

We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities, and are committed to having a diverse, inclusive team.

Application Procedure:

Formal applications can be completed online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/pgap/login.php.

You should apply for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics to ensure your application is passed to the correct team for processing.

Please clearly note the name of the lead supervisor and project titleon the application form. If you do not include these details, it may not be considered for the project.

Your application must include: A personal statement, an up-to-date copy of your academic CV, and clear copies of your educational certificates and transcripts .

Please note: you do not need to provide a research proposal with this application.

If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don't hesitate to contact us at researchadmissions@abdn.ac.uk

Funding Notes

This is a self-funding project open to students worldwide. Our typical start dates for this programme are February or October.

Fees for this programme can be found here Finance and Funding | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen.

Additional Research costs of £1,000 per annum will be required for this project, in addition to tuition fees.

References

[1] ESA Envision Factsheet, https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Envision_factsheet. Accessed 25/10/2024.
[2] Sugimoto et al. (2017), “Development of an ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation system for the Venusian atmosphere”, Scientific Reports, 7, 9321, 10.1038/s41598-017-09461-1.
[3] Young et al. (2022a), “Assimilation of temperatures and column dust opacities measured by ExoMars TGO-ACS TIRVIM during the MY34 global dust storm”. J. Geophys. Res. Planets, 127, e2022JE007312, 10.1029/2022JE007312.
[4] Young et al. (2022b), “First Assimilation of Atmospheric Temperatures from the Emirates Mars InfraRed Spectrometer”, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2022GL099656, 10.1029/2022GL099656.
[5] Read (2011), “Dynamics and circulation regimes of terrestrial planets”, Plan. Space Sci., 59, 900-194, 10.1016/j.pss.2010.04.024.