Remote Sensing Scientist - Optical Cloud Imaging

Remote Sensing Scientist - Optical Cloud Imaging

EUMETSAT - European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

Darmstadt, Germany

The Remote Sensing and Products (RSP) Division is tasked with providing the scientific expertise required to develop, implement, validate, maintain and evolve the operational observational products for all EUMETSAT satellites and agreed third party missions, as well as establishing the user requirements for future EUMETSAT satellite programmes.

With the recent launches of the EPS-Second Generation (EPS-SG) and Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellites, EUMETSAT has a new generation of space capabilities to observe the Earth-Atmosphere system able to observe the cloud optical properties and use them to retrieve a suite of cloud products and cloud properties. Other space missions also operated by EUMETSAT, such as the Copernicus missions, will contribute to this network of cloud observations.

Within the Clouds and Aerosols Competence Area (ClA-CA) of the Remote Sensing and Products Division (RSP), the Remote Sensing Scientist – Optical Cloud Imaging will be responsible for product development in the area of cloud and lightning detection, cloud microphysical properties, cloud analysis and other atmospheric products derived from visible and infrared imagery (e.g. water vapour and precipitation), focusing EUMETSAT’s next generation Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and EPS-Second Generation (EPS-SG) satellite systems.

What you’ll be doing

• Acquire and maintain an in depth understanding of the cloud and other atmospheric products derived from satellite optical imagery, such as water vapour and precipitation products;
• Support through in-house and external activities the definition, development, prototyping and validation of new or enhanced cloud products from satellite optical imagers including in a synergistic approach with other sensors. This includes interaction with the industry and supervision of external scientific studies;
• Provide scientific and technical expertise on the processing and analysis of inversion of atmospheric physical parameters in support of environment monitoring, forecasting applications, and climate applications;
• Contribute to calibration, validation, and monitoring of cloud and related products in an operational environment, and in collaboration with mission partners and the scientific as well as user communities;
• Based on interactions with the scientific and user communities, contribute to the advancement of the understanding of innovative measurements of cloud properties and related products and to the preparation and development of their applications. Contribute to the formulation of detailed specifications for future satellite products and services;
• Support interactions with mission and international partners. Support Satellite Application Facilities (SAF) related activities.

What we offer

• Excellent salary, of up to Euro 7,500 NET (after income tax) based on skills and experience;
• Flexible working time including additional flexi-leave;
• Full medical coverage for employee and family;
• Attractive pension;
• 30 days of annual leave + 14.5 days public holidays;
• Training and development support;
• Relocation allowance and support (if applicable).

Requirements

Qualifications

Advanced university degree or equivalent in remote sensing of atmospheric composition parameters, meteorology, physics or another relevant discipline.

Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of the most relevant imagery missions related to cloud properties and other atmospheric parameters, their products, applications and user communities;
• Demonstrated expertise in the physics of optical remote sensing of cloud properties and their validation;
• Understanding of the functioning, operation, and data processing of products derived from optical imager missions. Experience in Level-2 retrieval would be an asset;
• Experience in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning in the field of geophysical remote sensing would be an advantage;
• Demonstrable experience in developing scientific applications software in Python, IDL and/or MATLAB, including software development and management tools (e.g. GitLab). Experience with operational data processing software (e.g. Java, C++, Fortran) would be an advantage;
• Demonstrable experience with scientific development projects and working with user communities and researchers;
• Strengths in analysis, synthesis and presentation;
• Good interpersonal skills with a proven ability to apply these to the interactions within a team and between teams.

Languages

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ENGLISH. WE WILL BE UNABLE TO CONSIDER APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED IN OTHER LANGUAGES.

EUMETSAT is an international organisation employing staff from across all 30 member states and this role is being advertised on multiple international job boards, but please note that this role would be based in Darmstadt, Germany and would require international applicants to relocate if successful.

More about us

EUMETSAT’s role is to establish and operate meteorological satellites to monitor the weather and climate from space - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This information is supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation's Member and Cooperating States in Europe, as well as other users worldwide.

EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union and provide data services to the Copernicus marine and atmospheric services and their users.

As an intergovernmental European Organisation, EUMETSAT can recruit nationals only from the 30 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom).