Hydro-Climate Predictive Modeller

Job Information

Job Title : Hydro-Climate Predictive Modeller

Job Requisition ID : 55166

Ministry : Environment and Protected Areas

Location : Calgary

Full or Part-Time : Full Time

Hours of Work : 36.25 hours per week

Permanent / Temporary : Temporary (2 years)

Scope : Open Competition

Closing Date : EXTENDED : May 6, 2024

Classification : Scientific 3 (025SCA)

Salary : $3,076.28 to $4,053.05 bi-weekly ($80,290 - $105,784 / year)

The Government of Alberta is committed to a diverse and inclusive public service that reflects the population we serve to best meet the needs of Albertans.

Consider joining a team where diversity, inclusion and innovation are valued and supported. For more information on diversity and inclusion, please visit :

We support Albertans in being proud stewards of air, land, water, and biodiversity by leading the work required for the desired environmental outcomes and sustainable development of natural resources.

For more information about the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas, please visit our website at : .

Role Responsibilities

Reporting to the Environmental and Climate Change Modelling Team Lead, the Hydro-Climate Predictive Modeller is responsible for supporting advanced operational modelling crucial for infrastructure operation, effective response to water shortage, and drought emergencies management.

A significant part of the role involves the meticulous process of downloading, preprocessing, downscaling, and bias-correcting weather forecast inputs, and producing operational and seasonal ensemble hydro-climate forecasts.

This position also involves conducting a thorough analysis of seasonal forecast skill using retrospective historical forecasts to ensure the reliability and accuracy of these forecasts.

This position is accountable for developing new methodologies and automated systems for the analysis of hydrological, meteorological, micrometeorological, and climate datasets.

This encompasses the creation and potential co-development of programming packages and algorithms specifically tailored for analyzing the diverse and complex hydro-climate datasets prevalent across Alberta.

In this position, the incumbent will :

• Design, develop, calibrate, validate, and apply hydrological models to understand the past, current, and future environmental conditions including assessment of climate change impacts on hydrology in Alberta
• Support the development and implementation of drought forecasting systems in Alberta.
• Support the development and implementation of short- and long-term hydro-climate prediction analytical tools in Alberta.
• Develop and manipulate data, including the processes of downloading, preprocessing, downscaling, and bias-correcting weather / climate data, and producing operational and seasonal ensemble hydro-climate forecasts.
• Develop and maintain automated data pipelines to efficiently process and integrate diverse hydrological and meteorological data into operational models, such as water allocation and water demand forecasting models.
• Implement systems for the continuously running hydrological forecasting models and the automatic updating of climate forcing data.
• Develop statistical and mathematical methods including ML algorithms tailored to specific forecasting challenges in hydro-climate modelling.
• Conduct in-depth analyses of snow data from various sources, and focusing on aspects like snow water equivalent (SWE), snow depth, and melt rates, and snow modelling.
• Utilize GIS and remote sensing technologies to visualize and analyze spatial and temporal patterns in snow data from these different models.
• Stay abreast of advancements in hydrological modelling and climate science, and publish findings in scientific journals.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.