In support to the PROBA-V mission of the European Space Agency and the Belgian Federal Science Office, the Research Laboratory in Geomatics of the Earth and Life Institute de l’Université catholique de Louvain, seeks a qualified and highly motivated candidate to join its research team for
Mapping key land use/management of the planet using full PROBA-V satellite time series at 100 m (12 months researcher or 24 months PhD fellowship).
Our society have shaped its environment, but in recent decades there has been a sharp increase in land use land cover change, with major implications for CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, habitat loss and fragmentation. This increasing impact on the Earth system and the humans well-being depending on the ecosystem services require to monitor the Earth's surface accurately. Satellite observation offers unique means to take the pulse of our planet. This job is an opportunity to contribute to this challenge.
Job description
The successful applicant will join a motivated team of young researchers in charge of research, production (2014-2020) and analysis of a global land cover map at 100 m resolution for the European Space Agency and close partnership with the Climate Change Initiative of the European Space Agency (http://maps.elie.ucl.ac.be/CCI/viewer, https://www.esa-landcover-cci.org, https://climate.copernicus.eu).
In close interaction with the UCLouvain team member involved in the ESA CCI projects, the new researcher will contribute on one hand to benchmark methods towards a new production system for mapping several key land use types at global scale, and on the other hand, to implement such a solution to produce a global land cover map with the support of the IT staff. These activities are also related to two complementary projects supported by the European Space Agency and the EU Copernicus program.
Tasks of the new researcher will include the:
- remote sensing research to improve land use mapping methods in various parts of the world,
- full exploitation of the PROBA-V time series to produce new global land use maps,
- reports and presentations on the work progress of the project in an international context.
Qualifications
The applicant will be:
- graduated as bioengineer or equivalent;
- trained in remote sensing and geomatics including programming skills;
- fluent in written/ spoken French and English;
- motivated to carry out research activities in geomatics and remote sensing;
- ready to actively contribute to collaborative research and international teams.
Additional experiences in land cover/land use mapping, advanced image processing and Python or R programming are most welcomed.
Application
The contract can start as early as possible from September 2022. The interested candidates are invited to send a curriculum vitae and a motivation letter by email (Brigitte.Bedoret @ uclouvain.be and cc Pierre.Defourny @ uclouvain.be) as soon as possible
to Pr. P. Defourny UCLouvain \ ELIe_Geomatics Croix du Sud, 2 bte L5.07.16 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium).