Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in Exploiting Earth Observation for Climate Research

Our team and mission

As the holder of this two-year post, you will report to the Head of the Actionable Climate Information Section in the Climate and Long-Term Actions Division within the Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department of the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes. In the performance of your tasks, you will work in close cooperation with other staff in the Directorate.

ESA’s Actionable Climate Information Section is the focal point of the Agency’s climate-related activities. It is based at the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT), Harwell, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

The Section aims to increase the availability and use of global, satellite-based Earth observation (EO) data for decision-making. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is driving international efforts to combat climate change by limiting the rise in global temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as set out in the Paris Agreement. In response to the UNFCCC requirements for the systematic monitoring of the climate system, ESA launched the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) research programme in 2008.

Through the CCI, ESA is developing a suite of global data records of key components of the climate system, known as essential climate variables (ECVs). The climate-quality datasets produced by the CCI are a major contribution to the evidence base used to understand climate change, which drives international action. Climate modellers use the ECVs to study drivers, interactions and feedback due to climate change, as well as reservoirs, teleconnections, tipping points and fluxes of energy, water and carbon, while predicting future change.

The CCI also addresses the R&D required to support the UNFCCC Paris Agreement reporting requirements for signatories. Another major focus of the CCI is to connect the climate observation and modelling communities. 
The ESA Climate and Long-term Action Division is also host to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project International Project Office (CMIP-IPO), which coordinates the climate modelling community in support of its scientific goals, and climate change assessments such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

For more information, you are encouraged to visit the ESA websites: www.esa.int and www.climate.esa.int.

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

Your research will contribute to the activities of the ESA Actionable Climate Information Section, for example, through:

• the use of satellite-based observations in addressing key climate science questions.  Any potential research project should include more than one (European and/or worldwide) satellite-derived variable (e.g. soil moisture and land surface temperature) and cover a wide range of innovative topics, from the development and validation of novel methods, algorithms and EO products to innovative climate research;
• the development of improved climate data records from satellite data, and/or improved methods of uncertainty characterisation, including the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve or analyse satellite climate data records.
• the investigations into the physical consistency between different satellite-derived climate data records (e.g. aerosol and cloud properties), and the impact of inconsistencies in the data on applications.
• the quality assessment and validation of satellite-based data sets for climate science.
• improving public understanding of climate science (e.g. by developing and promoting GCOS Climate Indicators) and raising awareness of ESA's climate activities.

You will have the opportunity to work in cooperation with relevant scientific projects within ESA's CCI programme and other teams at ESA. In addition, you will be encouraged to mentor and supervise junior researchers, for instance through ESA’s Graduate Trainee programme. 

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

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

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

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 received their in the past three years PhD.

Additional requirements

You should also have:

• proven research experience based on the use of relevant satellite measurements;
• science software development experience and programming skills;
• good analytical and communication skills, with the ability to work in a multicultural environment in an autonomous manner;
• experience in mentoring and supervising.

Additional experience in modelling would be an asset.