PostDoc Researcher: Atmospheric modelling using OpenFoam

The Multiphase Flow Group at the Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain, is conducting  research activities in the field of CFD modelling and AI. A PostDoc position is currently available to join the group in the field of atmospheric flow CFD modelling applied to urban areas in order to be applied to digital twins using AI. 

This position will work as a post-doctoral researcher in the project, DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL TWINS TO FAST PREDICTION OF AIR POLLUTANTS DISTRIBUTION AND THE ODOUR IMPACT IN CITIES BASED ON THE APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO CFD MODELS (APPWIND). The backbone of APPwind is centred on the development of an innovative methodology to provide such a powerful tool, from tackling the complexity of the three-dimensional dispersion solver to integrating the resulting forecast as a pollution/odour layer in urban digital twins. The main proposal consists of developing an innovative methodology to provide a useful and fast tool to predict the dispersion of air pollutants in urban areas with a very high spatial and temporal resolution and accuracy by combining the application of CFD WMLES and artificial intelligence. This methodology shall offer very detailed micrometeorology predictions in urban areas, based exclusively on advanced cartographic information and meteorological forecasts. This will be achieved by leveraging the ability of IA in making long-term forecasting in a few minutes, in front of the hundreds of hours needed by the CFD alternative. The odour and pollutant dispersion forecast will be performed through a second solver that will determine their distribution by taking the ANNs micrometeorology prediction as input. The separation between the two solvers permits the introduction of pollution sources at will, thus enabling the parallelization of multiple studies with different emitting sources, affected areas, chemical compounds, etc.

1) Tasks:

• Develop CFD models, mainly based on OpenFOAM, for atmospheric flow predictions in urban-area environments, including geometry and mesh generation.
• Develop models to simulate gas dispersion in urban scenarios.
• Support to the AI group to develop micrometeorology digital twins applied to urban-scale scenarios.
• Perform model validation against experimental data.
• Communicate results in scientific conferences and journal publications.
• Participation in project proposals definition and preparation.
• Support to phD students in their CFD developments in OpenFoam

2) Requirements:

• PhD in Physics, Mathematic, Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering or a closely related field.
• Strong Experience in CFD (OpenFOAM ), ideally in the field of atmospheric flow modelling in urban scale, particularly in modelling and simulation of scenarios with gas dispersion.
• A solid background in CFD numerical and programming techniques, mainly applied to OpenFOAM, and good C++ programming skills are essential. Knowledge in atmospheric experimental data analysis is desired but not required.
• Good communication skills (English)
• Experience in publishing in scientific journals.

3) Conditions:

• The position will be located at Universitat Jaume I ( Castellón, Spain )
• We offer a full-time contract, a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours( 37.5 h/week). The contract includes all the benefits of the Spanish Public Health and Social Security System.
• Duration: Temporary - 2 years renewable
• Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Castellón (Spain )
• Starting date: 01/03/2023

4) Application documents:

• PhD certificate
• CV including publication list
• Reference Letter