Research Scientist- Geophysics

Special Instructions to Applicants Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without the need for visa sponsorship. The University will not sponsor applicants for work visas (e.g., H-1B). Job Summary During the period of work, Academic Year 2026-2027, the efforts of the incumbent will support and benefit an existing U.S. Naval Research Lab project on use of the geomagnetic and gravity fields, bathymetry, and seafloor acoustics as an alternative-to-GPS (Alt-Nav) means of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) signal. Work will involve developing and implementing multi-physics inverse modeling methods to support reference map-making. Analytical and model products of magnetic, gravity, bathymetry, and acoustic data will be used to ensure PNT and to enable an Alt-Nav capability for uncrewed Navy platforms. The incumbent, under the supervision of the principal investigator, is responsible for the processing and inverse modeling of relevant geophysical data types to support the generation of improved continuous coverage gridded maps. Data types include magnetic, gravity, bathymetry, and geoacoustic and may have been acquired as satellite, airborne, shiptrack, and autonomous vehicle data. Methods for generating standardized geophsical data and model products and the products themselves will be documented in written reports and as computer code. Primary Duties and Responsibilities Assist in building digital databases of raw magnetic, gravity, bathymetry, and geoacoustic (sub-bottom profiler) survey measurement data. Assist in processing measurement data to produce consistent estimates of the lithospheric magnetic and gravity fields, bathymetry, and area-averaged acoustic response for individual survey measurement sets. Assist with experiments in modeling relevant geophysical data types from multiple surveys to obtain spatially continuous (gridded) estimates of the measured value of interest forming composite magnetic datasets. Assist with experiments in producing estimates of sediment layer thickness and depth to magnetic basement from multi-physics inverse modeling. Assist in making quantitative comparison of newly developed map products with existing baseline maps using, for example 1- and 2-D wavelet coherence methods. Perform other duties as assigned.