United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
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JOB DESCRIPTION
VN 24/01 Remote Sensing Scientist – Atmospheric Chemistry (Copernicus)
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 (Copernicus) will support the scientific activities for the prototyping, development, validation, evolution and monitoring of products from the Copernicus Sentinel-4/Ultraviolet Visible Near-infrared (UVN), the Sentinel-5/Ultraviolet Visible Near-infrared Shortwave-infrared (UVNS), and the CO2M/NO2I missions.
Duties
The main duties will be as follows:
- Support the scientific development enhancement of atmospheric chemistry and composition products from ultra-violet, visible, near and short-wave infrared satellite instruments, with a focus on the Copernicus Sentinel-4/UVN, Sentinel-5/UVNS, and CO2M instruments;
- Provide scientific support to the operational implementation of data processing and products, including prototyping of software and provision of associated documentation;
- Define and carry out calibration, validation, and long-term monitoring activities for the Copernicus Sentinel-4/UVN, Sentinel-5/UVNS, and CO2M/NO2I 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 products;
- Instigate and lead external scientific studies, including management of related contracts;
- Take an active role in the detailed formulation of requirements for future products and services, responding to the evolving needs of the users.
LOCATION
QUALIFICATIONS
A university degree in remote sensing or another relevant discipline is required.
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
21 February 2024
Duties
The main duties will be as follows:
- Support the scientific development enhancement of atmospheric chemistry and composition products from ultra-violet, visible, near and short-wave infrared satellite instruments, with a focus on the Copernicus Sentinel-4/UVN, Sentinel-5/UVNS, and CO2M instruments;
- Provide scientific support to the operational implementation of data processing and products, including prototyping of software and provision of associated documentation;
- Define and carry out calibration, validation, and long-term monitoring activities for the Copernicus Sentinel-4/UVN, Sentinel-5/UVNS, and CO2M/NO2I 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 products;
- Instigate and lead external scientific studies, including management of related contracts;
- 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 optical remote sensing techniques for trace gases and other atmospheric composition parameters and direct experience in retrieval of trace gases and other atmospheric composition products from ultra-violet, visible, near and short-wave infrared spectrometers;
- 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 6903 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.
About EUMETSAT
EUMETSAT is Europe’s meteorological satellite agency. Its 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 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 has 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.)
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