Research Software Engineer - Weather and Climate Data Interchange in Bonn bei ECMWF

The role

We are in search of a highly motivated Research Software Engineer (A2) to work on an exciting project to harmonise how numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate data are described, stored and used by ECMWF and the users of our data. You will be part of a dynamic team, consisting of scientists and software engineers contributing to the key activities at ECMWF.

At ECMWF, you will find a passionate community, collectively aiming to bring novel technology and science to the cutting-edge of numerical weather prediction and high-resolution climate modelling. In this role, you will explore and innovate solutions to develop a framework that will be used harmonise access to and understanding of NWP and climate data, facilitating the development of tools that can handle both these data transparently with full understanding of their semantics. This will allow users of data from these related domains to more easily share tools and workflows and concentrate on the science rather than the specifics of the data formats. A particular focus will be on users of the Copernicus Climate Data Store, where a wealth of climate data is made available. This work is an integral part of serving weather and climate data to a growing number of downstream users our member states, commercial customers, climate scientists, and impact modellers who are highly reliant on tools that can process data from multiple sources. It is a significant element in our core mission and our commitments as part of European Union (EU) initiatives.

You will have the opportunity to contribute creative insights into the development of this harmonisation framework and to help integrate its use into various tools and systems used to store, distribute and process such data (for example the Climate Data Store), as well as those used directly by weather and climate scientists.

ECMWF has been entrusted by the EU with the implementation and operation of the Climate Change and Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the EU Copernicus Programme, and contribute to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. ECMWF is also one of three organisations entrusted to deliver Destination Earth (DestinE), a flagship initiative of the European Commission to develop highly accurate digital replicas, Digital Twins (DTs), of the Earth on a global scale.

In the framework of ECMWF’s contribution to the Copernicus Programme, you will work on a software framework that will harmonise the handling of various datasets from sources such as the Climate Data Store and ECMWF’s MARS archive. You will work most closely on the development of EarthKit, which will become the preferred way for weather and climate scientists to access and process this data.

For more information on EarthKit see https://earthkit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.

The Team

This position is based in the Foundational Software Services Team in the Development Section. The team is responsible for the development and maintenance of software building blocks and complete applications in the areas of data processing, workflow management and visualisation. It is also responsible for deployment, packaging, and testing of multiple software packages. These packages are made available inside and outside ECMWF, both as standalone packages (such as ecCodes, MIR, Magics and ecFlow) and contained in the all-in-one meteorological workstation software Metview. The team also develops the new EarthKit software stack which modernises and harmonises data handling, enabling efficient data access, analysis, visualisation and directly supports ECMWF’s machine learning developments.

About ECMWF

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is a world-leader in weather and environmental forecasting. As an international organisation we serve our members and the wider community with global weather predictions and data that is critical for understanding and solving the climate crisis. We function as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions, holding one of the largest meteorological data archives in the world. The success of our activities builds on the talent of our scientists and experts, strong partnerships with 35 Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies and ML across our operations.

ECMWF has developed a strong partnership with the European Union and implementats and operates the Climate Change and Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the Copernicus Programme of the EU.We also contribute to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. Other areas of work include High Performance Computing and the development of digital tools that