Rainmaker Fellow, Satellite Remote Sensing

Examples of the Work

Fellowship projects change with Rainmaker's research and operational priorities. Examples of the work our satellite remote-sensing team may pursue include:

• Benchmarking and improving microwave-sounder retrievals using Rainmaker in-cloud measurements, radar, geostationary imagery, and model fields.
• Fusing intermittent polar-orbiting observations with frequent geostationary imagery to track cloud properties between overpasses.
• Automating an existing manual satellite-analysis workflow used by Rainmaker scientists or operators.
• Validating cloud-phase, cloud-top, precipitation, moisture, temperature, or related satellite products against Rainmaker observations.
• Developing a bounded retrieval or satellite data product for research or operational use.

What You'll Do

• Acquire, process, collocate, and quality-control microwave, polar-orbiting, and geostationary satellite observations.
• Reproduce an existing retrieval or operational baseline before testing improvements.
• Validate satellite products against radar, NWP, soundings, surface observations, and Rainmaker aircraft, UAS, or in-situ measurements.
• Quantify detection skill, bias, uncertainty, spatial representativeness, latency, coverage, and failure modes by meteorological regime.
• Implement physically motivated, statistical, or ML retrieval improvements when justified by the project and data.
• Build documented, reproducible workflows that other Rainmaker scientists can run and extend.
• Present findings to satellite scientists, radar scientists, meteorologists, operators, and technical leadership.
• Deliver a final artifact such as a collocation dataset, retrieval benchmark, automated data product, error analysis, fusion prototype, or research paper.

What We're Looking For

• Current undergraduate, master's, or PhD students; postdoctoral researchers; recent graduates; and other early-career researchers are all eligible.
• Strong quantitative and programming ability, preferably in Python.
• Experience with atmospheric remote sensing, satellite meteorology, physics, applied mathematics, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related field.
• Interest in microwave sounders, polar-orbiting observations, geostationary imagery, retrieval methods, or scientific data products.
• Ability to implement a scientific method, establish a baseline, and validate the result carefully.
• Comfort working with large, imperfect, multidimensional observational datasets.
• High agency and the ability to take responsibility for a bounded workstream while collaborating with experienced researchers.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Availability for full-time, on-site work in El Segundo for the agreed appointment.

Particularly Relevant Experience

By the end of the fellowship, you will have answered a clearly defined scientific or operational question and delivered a trusted computational result the satellite remote-sensing team can continue using. Depending on the project, that might be a quality-controlled validation dataset, retrieval benchmark or improvement, error analysis, fusion prototype, automated data product, or operational workflow.

Success does not require a positive result. A rigorous conclusion about what the available observations can and cannot support can be as valuable as an improved retrieval.

Fellowship Details

• Paid, full-time, and on-site in El Segundo.
• Three-to-six-month appointment, with four months as the standard duration.
• Rolling applications and project-specific start dates.
• Attached directly to Rainmaker's satellite-science group with a named mentor.
• Consideration for future full-time roles
• Publication may be supported when it does not compromise Rainmaker intellectual property or operational know-how.

Compensation and Benefits

$8,000 per month

Benefits

• Full health coverage (medical, dental, and vision insurance)
• Lunch provided when working in-office and a fully stocked kitchenette
• Free EV charging at the HQ