Remote Sensing Scientist – Atmospheric Chemistry Sensor Calibration

VN 24 / 39 Remote Sensing Scientist Atmospheric Chemistry Sensor Calibration

This position is located within the Atmospheric Chemistry Competence Area of EUMETSAT’s Remote Sensing and Products (RSP) Division.

The RSP Division provides the scientific expertise required to develop, implement, validate, maintain, and evolve operational observational products for all EUMETSAT satellites and agreed third party missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-4, Sentinel-5, and CO2M .

For the coming decades, Copernicus Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 will be Europe’s backbone missions for the operational monitoring of air quality and atmospheric chemistry from the geostationary and low earth orbits, respectively.

For the first time, this unique combination of missions will provide both global daily coverage as well as observations of the diurnal cycle over the European domain.

The list of applications ranges from observations of air quality parameters, such as the amount of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, and the monitoring of stratospheric ozone and surface UV radiation to the global monitoring of methane, which is highly relevant for climate forcing.

The Remote Sensing Scientist Atmospheric Chemistry Sensor Calibration (Copernicus) will support the scientific activities for the prototyping, development, validation, evolution and monitoring of Level-1B products from the Copernicus Sentinel-4 / Ultraviolet Visible Near-infrared (UVN), the Sentinel-5 / Ultraviolet Visible Near-infrared Shortwave-infrared (UVNS), and the CO2M / CO2I missions, with a special focus on sensor calibration.

Duties

The main duties will be as follows :

• Provide scientific support to the calibration and Level-0 to Level-1B processing of ultra-violet, visible, near and short-wave infrared satellite instruments, with an initial focus on the Copernicus Sentinel-4 / UVN instrument and later on potentially on Sentinel-5 / UVNS and CO2M / CO2I;
• Define and carry out calibration, validation, and long-term monitoring activities for the Copernicus Atmospheric Chemistry product suite in cooperation with ESA, other agencies and the scientific and user community;
• Liaise with and provide support to the operational user community to facilitate uptake of the operational products;
• Develop product enhancements including prototyping software and provision of associated documentation;
• Instigate and lead external scientific studies, including management of related contracts;
• Support future Copernicus Sentinel-4 / UVN, Sentinel-5 / UVNS, and CO2M / CO2I product reprocessing activities;
• Take an active role in the detailed formulation of requirements for future products and services, responding to the evolving needs of the users.

LOCATION

Darmstadt, Germany

QUALIFICATIONS

Advanced university degree in remote sensing, physics, meteorology or equivalent.

LANGUAGES

The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have some knowledge of French.

DEADLINE

28 October

Duties

The main duties will be as follows :

• Provide scientific support to the calibration and Level-0 to Level-1B processing of ultra-violet, visible, near and short-wave infrared satellite instruments, with an initial focus on the Copernicus Sentinel-4 / UVN instrument and later on potentially on Sentinel-5 / UVNS and CO2M / CO2I;
• Define and carry out calibration, validation, and long-term monitoring activities for the Copernicus Atmospheric Chemistry product suite in cooperation with ESA, other agencies and the scientific and user community;
• Liaise with and provide support to the operational user community to facilitate uptake of the operational products;
• Develop product enhancements including prototyping software and provision of associated documentation;
• Instigate and lead external scientific studies, including management of related contracts;
• Support future Copernicus Sentinel-4 / UVN, Sentinel-5 / UVNS, and CO2M / CO2I product reprocessing activities;
• Take an active role in the detailed formulation of requirements for future products and services, responding to the evolving needs of the users.

Skills and Experience

• Advanced knowledge of calibration of ultra-violet, visible, near and short-wave infrared spectrometers; Specific experience with correction of stray light in imaging spectrometers is a distinct advantage;
• Demonstrated experience in the use of radiative transfer models;
• Proven experience of processing large-volumes of data from relevant space borne instruments;
• Demonstrable experience with scientific development projects and working with user communities and researchers;
• Experience of working in a UNIX environment and with scientifically-oriented coding languages like C / C++, Python and / or MATLAB;
• Strengths in analysis, synthesis and presentation, coupled with good interpersonal skills and a proven ability to apply these to the interactions within a team and between teams.

Employment Conditions

The initial contract will be of 4 years’ duration, with subsequent 5 year contracts being awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisation requirements.

There is no limit to the amount of follow-up contracts a staff member can receive up to the EUMETSAT retirement age of 63 and there are certainly opportunities to establish a long career perspective at EUMETSAT.

This post is graded A2 / A4 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO per month (net of internal tax but excluding pension contribution and insurances) which may be negotiable on the basis of skills and experience.

The salary scale provides for increments on the anniversary of taking up employment, and scales are reviewed by the EUMETSAT Council with effect from 1 January each year.

In addition to basic salary, EUMETSAT offers attractive benefits. Further information, including salary details, is available on the EUMETSAT web site.

EUMETSAT is committed to providing an equal opportunities work environment for men and women.

Please note that only nationals of EUMETSAT Member States may apply. The EUMETSAT Convention requires that Staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, account being taken of the international character of EUMETSAT.