ESA Graduate Trainee in Multi-Frequency Synethetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Analysis

Our team and mission

The Earth and Mission Science Division, of the Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department within the Earth Observation Programmes (EOP) Directorate, is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC). The Earth and Mission Science Division provides the creative vision for innovation and new discoveries in Earth system science, using Earth Observation (EO) in close cooperation with the scientific community.

The Earth and Mission Science Division team:

• Bridges science and technology by translating ideas and concepts into technical reality and scientific success. It does this by defining, consolidating and managing scientific mission requirements throughout all phases of a mission, and by measuring the maturity of the resulting mission concept.
• Manages scientific research-based studies, providing the scientific foundation for mission concepts and approval, supports the successful development of space and ground segment, in-orbit satellite commissioning and in-orbit scientific achievements.
• Undertakes airborne, marine and terrestrial campaigns contributing to the development of new technologies, mission feasibility assessments, calibration/validation and application development.

You will work within the Campaigns Section of the Earth and Mission Science Division, whose role is to provide support throughout the preparation and development of new future Earth Observation missions, and to validate the data being delivered by those satellites already in orbit. Your activities will contribute to and benefit from a diverse and international team of scientists working across a variety of Earth Science disciplines in support of Earth Explorer, Copernicus Sentinels, Earth Watch and other EO missions.
 

You are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

The key objective of the traineeship in Multi-frequency synthetic aperture radar is to explore the information content and potential Earth system science benefits of a constellation of multi-frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites using SAR campaign data. Understanding the synergies and complementarities of different SAR wavelengths is essential to prepare for next generation of SAR satellite missions currently under development at ESA, including ROSE-L, Sentinel-1 Next Generation, Biomass, Harmony and Hydroterra+, and will accelerate the science uptake once the missions are flying in orbit.

ESA’s SAR missions:

As part of the Copernicus programme, ROSE-L and Sentinel-1/Sentinel-1 Next Generation are addressed as a system of systems and will operate in synergy to enhance and complement the value and impact of the missions for operational services and applications. Sharing the same orbit, Sentinel-1 Next Generation will be the continuation of the Sentinel-1 mission. ROSE-L will provide new additional information that cannot be gathered by Sentinel-1 such as ground motion and soil moisture information below vegetation over land and mapping of regions of deformed sea ice and improved iceberg detection essential to safe navigation in the Arctic.

As ESA’s 7th Earth Explorer mission, Biomass, will carry a novel P-band SAR, designed to deliver crucial information about the state of our forests and how they are changing, and to further our understanding of the role forests play in the carbon cycle. Harmony is ESA’s 10th Earth Explorer mission and will consist of two identical satellites orbiting Earth in convoy with a Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite. Each Harmony satellite will carry a receive-only synthetic aperture radar and a multiview thermal-infrared instrument. Together with observations from Sentinel-1, Harmony will deliver a wide range of unique high-resolution observations of motion occurring at or near Earth’s surface. Hydroterra+ is one of the four Earth Explorer 12 candidate missions and plans to deploy a single satellite equipped with a C-band SAR in a quasi-geostationary (GEO) orbit.

This setup combines the advantages of high sensitivity to water vapour, soil moisture, deformations, and changes, with the ability to access one-third of the Earth almost instantaneously, complementing current optical and microwave missions in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).

You will contribute to the SAR missions currently under development at ESA while processing, analysing and combining multistatic SAR data over various areas and for selected thematic applications. Potential areas of research include polar regions and ocean monitoring, oil spill monitoring, development and validation of snow water equivalent, forest parameter,and soil moisture retrievals and monitoring of agriculture, geohazards and urban areas.

You will contribute to a better understanding of the synergies and complementarities between C-, L- and P-band LEO SAR data. You will be at the forefront of developments of multistatic and multitemporal SAR, in addition to SAR from quasiGEO orbit. You will process and analyse SAR data and explore the benefits and drawbacks of the different wavelengths for selected applications listed above. A validation with ground-based measurements is also foreseen and you will have the opportunity to support the implementation of an airborne campaign to further develop ROSE-L and Hydroterra+. 

You will contribute to the scientific development of ESA’s SAR missions while interacting with the Mission Advisory Groups and the international SAR science community. You will additionally explore the benefits of AI-based information retrieval techniques from SAR data and how these can be used to advance our understanding in selected science and application areas.

Your specific tasks will include:

• Processing of C-, L- and P-band SAR data.
• Interpretation of results using independent information (e.g., on-ground measurements or other sources).
• Analysis of the backscatter and coherence statistics over time.
• Interferometric data analysis.
• Interaction with the SAR science community.
• Publication of results in peer-reviewed journals.
• Explore how AI techniques can contribute to the uptake of campaign data
• Document the role of SAR in advancing specific science themes and guiding science questions in ESA’s renewed science strategy.

Your objectives will be:

• Acquire expertise in SAR data processing and analysis.
• Get to know different applications of SAR data acquired with different frequencies.
• Participate in the development process of Earth Explorer and Copernicus satellite missions.
• Develop an understanding of how field measurements support the development of future satellite missions.
• Gain experience working in international teams.

This ESA Graduate Trainee opportunity is a fantastic chance to contribute to SAR mission development in the Earth and Mission Science Division. If you have a passion for the various applications of SAR and would like to be at the forefront of future mission development, we encourage you to apply. We look forward to your innovative contributions to our team!

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 just completed, or be in the final year of your master’ s degree in a relevant scientific or technical discipline, e.g., remote sensing, earth observation, geodesy, geography, geophysics.

Additional requirements

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience of working in international teams can be considered an asset. Your motivation, overall professional perspective and career goals will also be explored during the later stages of the selection process. 

You should have a good knowledge of SAR remote sensing, SAR data processing and interferometric processing. Programming skills (Matlab, Python) and knowledge of different SAR methods and applications are an asset.