Post Doctoral Scholar – Evapotranspiration Forecasting and Irrigation Decision Support

The Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Scholar to lead the Oklahoma component of the project, which centers on turning NASA Earth observations into forecasts that irrigators and water agencies can act on. Groundwater from the Ogallala–High Plains Aquifer supports millions of irrigated acres across Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and its continued decline is among the most consequential water sustainability challenges in the United States. The project delivers 10-day forecasts of crop evapotranspiration and irrigation demand, with modeling indicating potential water savings of 10–15% without a yield penalty.

Position Description

This position is a post-doctorate scholar position that will develop and evaluate a baseline crop evapotranspiration (ETc) forecasting capability that integrates OpenET historical and near-real-time ET retrievals with GraphCast weather predictions, targeting a 10-day forecast horizon under non-limiting water conditions. Enhance ET forecasts through soil moisture assimilation, using NISAR L-band backscatter with SMAP and Sentinel-1 as complementary datasets, and machine learning approaches that downscale coarse soil moisture products to field-relevant resolution across heterogeneous irrigated fields. Translate forecasted crop water demand into crop-stage-aware irrigation demand estimates, incorporating dynamic crop coefficients, effective rooting depth, growing degree days, and satellite vegetation indices for the region’s dominant irrigated crops — corn, soybean, cotton, sorghum, and alfalfa. Evaluate operational feasibility within producer-facing advisory platforms, including the Oklahoma Agricultural Scientific Irrigation Scheduling (OASIS) tool under deployment at OSU, and support prototype deployment with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma Mesonet. Build and maintain reproducible data pipelines, including automated OpenET API access, NISAR and SMAP retrieval, and Oklahoma Mesonet ingestion; perform quality assurance on eddy covariance ET, soil moisture, and producer irrigation records; and prepare metadata and derived products for archiving in NASA-approved repositories under the project’s Open Science and Data Management Plan. Coordinate seasonal field campaigns at OSU irrigation research sites and cooperating producer fields across Oklahoma, and validate forecasts against eddy covariance towers, Mesonet observations, and producer irrigation records. Disseminate results through peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, and presentations at regional and international meetings, and contribute to stakeholder workshops and proposal development.

Qualifications

Ph.D. in Biosystems or Agricultural Engineering, Civil or Water Resources Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Hydrology, Agronomy or Soil Science, Remote Sensing, Geography, Data Science, or a closely related field, completed by the appointment start date. Demonstrated research productivity evidenced by first-authored peer-reviewed publications. Proficiency in scientific programming and experience working with large geospatial or time-series datasets. Python is strongly preferred, as existing project workflows are Python-based; strong proficiency in R, MATLAB, or Julia, with the ability to work in Python, will also be considered. Research experience in evapotranspiration estimation, soil water balance modeling, hydrologic or crop water modeling, or satellite remote sensing of agricultural water use. Strong written and oral communication skills in English, and the ability to work both independently and as part of a multi-institution team. Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel to field research sites across Oklahoma.

Employment Conditions

Review of applications will begin 20 days after job is posted. For full consideration, submit all materials as soon as possible. Review of applications will continue until a suitable candidate is identified. Salary and benefits are competitive and commensurate with education, training, and experience. Retirement and long-term disability, medical, dental, and life insurance programs are available to the employee. The position is available as soon as an outstanding candidate is available.

OKLAHOMA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • OKLAHOMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION FERGUSON

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE