Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Land Surface Temperature Measurement and Calibration

Internal Research Fellowship Opportunity in the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.

ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. For this purpose, we welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.

This post is classified F2 on the Coordinated Organisations’ salary scale..

Location
ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands  

Under the supervision of the ESA Payload Manager of the Land Surface Temperature Monitoring (LSTM) mission, you will become part of the LSTM project team. The LSTM mission has been identified as one of the high-priority Copernicus Expansion Missions. It is designed to provide enhanced, high spatio-temporal resolution measurements of land surface temperature in response to presently unfulfilled user requirements related, notably but not exclusively, to water resource monitoring for agriculture.

High spatio-temporal resolution thermal infrared observations are considered fundamental to the sustainable management of natural resources in the context of agricultural production and also for global water and food security. Operational land surface temperature (LST) measurements and derived evapotranspiration (ET) are key variables in understanding and responding to climate variability, managing water resources for irrigation and sustainable agricultural production and predicting droughts, but also for addressing land degradation, natural hazards, coastal and inland water management, as well as urban heat island issues.

The activities within the scope of this fellowship will contribute to establishing quality in respect of the payload measurement products and minimising the uncertainties associated with them.
You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: https://www.esa.int/

Under the supervision of the ESA Payload Manager of the LSTM mission, and as part of the LSTM project team, you will conduct research to contribute to the following topics:

1. Calibration process modelling and radiometric artefact correction
Typically, space instruments are required to provide measurement of high radiometric quality, traceable to national standards. Calibration is the procedure for converting the instrument measurement output data into the required physical units. After calibration, the output data must meet all performance requirements across the entire swath of the measurement, around the orbit, over the dynamic range and over the lifetime of the instrument. Calibration is based on characterisation measurements performed before launch as well as in flight, using either on-board calibration systems (e.g. diffusers, blackbodies) or vicarious calibration targets (e.g. Earth scenes, Moon, etc.).

The setup of a robust calibration model is essential for the quality of the end product. You will contribute to the modelling, parameterisation and execution of the LSTM instrument radiometric model. Furthermore, and linked to the principle of observation as well as the instrument design, additional radiometric artefacts may occur when measuring highly non-uniform scenes (for example, spurious signal due to straylight). You will analyse such artefacts and propose methods to correct them.

2. Uncertainty propagation
The process of converting a measurement of an optical instrument into physical units of radiance implies a chain of mathematical operations associated with the instrument properties (e.g. optical chain, detection chain, etc.), the calibration method, as well as the acquisition geometry. All these operations contribute to an uncertainty, which is associated with each and every measurement of the various targets on Earth. You will contribute to the description, implementation, parameterisation and execution of a model, which will identify  the associated uncertainties corresponding to the individual measurements of the LSTM instrument.

3. Retrieval of land surface temperature
Several algorithms exist to determine the land surface temperature of the Earth, starting with the top-of-atmosphere remote measurement of an optical instrument and converting it into the geophysical parameter of interest. You will review relevant applicable algorithms and implement these in executable code, which will subsequently be used to conduct various sensitivity analyses. The algorithms will make it possible, for a given mission scenario and a given set of instrument artefacts, to select the optimum instrument configuration and measurement technique and propose optimisation in the processing of the relevant products.

Knowledge relevant to the field of research

Research/publication record

Ability to conduct research autonomously

Breadth of exposure coming from past and/or current research/activities

Ability to gather and share relevant information

General interest in space and space research

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking 

You should have recently completed or be close to completion of a PhD in a related technical or scientific discipline. Preference will be given to applications submitted by candidates who have been awarded their PhD in the past five years.

For this position in particular, a PhD in physics, engineering or applied mathematics is required.

You should also have:

• a physics and applied mathematics background, with a preference for optics;
• strong analytical and programming skills;
• Python programming skills;
• familiarity with numerical methods;
• good knowledge of statistical concepts and operations;
• a basic understanding of the key parts of an optical instrument and relevant technologies (filters, optics, detectors).

Knowledge of additional programming environments such as LabView, as well as experience with image processing, is considered an asset.
The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

Other information

For behavioural competencies expected from ESA staff in general, please refer to the ESA Competency Framework .

For further information on the Internal Research Fellowship Programme please visit: Internal Research Fellowship

The Agency may require applicants to undergo selection tests.

In addition to your CV and your motivation letter, please add your proposal of no more than 5 pages outlining your proposed research in the "additional documents" field of the "application information" section.

At the Agency we value diversity and we welcome people with disabilities.  Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace.  The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further please contact us at [email protected] .

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Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Cyprus and Slovakia as European Cooperating States (ECS).

According to the ESA Convention, the recruitment of staff must take into account an adequate distribution of posts among nationals of the ESA Member States*. When short-listing for an interview, priority will first be given to candidates from under-represented or balanced Member States*.(https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/careers/NationalityTargets.pdf )

In accordance with the European Space Agency’s security procedures and as part of the selection process, successful candidates will be required to undergo basic screening before appointment conducted by an external background screening service. 

*Member States, Associate Members or Cooperating States.