Technology Research Analyst jobs in Grand Junction, CO

Who We Are:

The Department of Solar and Heliospheric Physics within SwRI’s Boulder office performs research, develops missions and instruments, and engages in outreach activities in solar and heliophysics, with particular specialties in high energy processes in the solar corona and their propagation through the middle corona into the heliosphere. We are currently developing multiple projects to observe the solar corona during upcoming total solar eclipses, and are developing new data analysis tools to support the science behind these projects. These projects include ground-based, airborne, and space-based platforms that span the electromagnetic spectrum.

Objectives of this Role:

• Under the supervision of Principal Scientists in the Department, help to develop multiple missions to observe the 2024 total solar eclipse.
• Contribute to the analysis of pre-eclipse technical and calibration data in visible and infrared light.
• Participate in logistical planning for eclipse observations including a ground-based observation network and airborne observatory flight.
• Contribute to the calibration and scientific analysis of observations of the solar corona following the eclipse.
• Participate in eclipse-related outreach activities.

Daily and Monthly Responsibilities:

• Under direct supervision, participate in mission and instrument development activities, including laboratory and/or field calibration and testing.
• Learn cutting-edge techniques of coronal polarimetric and spectroscopic imaging and prototype, develop, validate and test software to carry out data processing and analysis of solar coronal observations.
• Present progress and results within the project core development teams and potentially at scientific conferences.
• Participate in eclipse-related outreach activities when opportunities arise .
• Assist with logistical and technical planning for eclipse campaigns.

Requirements:

• Requires a Bachelors in Solar Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, or a related field.
• 0-5 years: Scientific analysis of astronomical remote sensing data.
• 0-5 years: Programming in a scientifically-oriented data analysis environment such as Python.
• Interest in or laboratory and/or field experience with solar remote sensing instrumentation and observations.
• Interest in and/or experience with astronomical visible light and/or infrared spectropolarimetric imaging data.