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VN 25/30 Remote Sensing Scientist – Radiometric Calibration Expert

The Remote Sensing and Products (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-3, as well as establishing the user requirements for future EUMETSAT satellite programmes.

 Within the Image Navigation, Registration and Calibration Competence Area (INRC CA) of the RSP division, the Remote Sensing Scientist – radiometric calibration expert is responsible for,

and contribute to, scientific support, prototyping, developing and maintaining vicarious calibration and inter-calibration methods to address Level-1 radiometric calibration needs for EUMETSAT imaging instruments.

Duties

  • Acquire and maintain an in-depth understanding of the imagers, polarimeters and imaging spectrometers of current (EPS, MSG, MTG-I, Sentinel-3) and future (MTG-S, EPS-SG, CO2M) satellite systems and of their Level-1 processing and radiometric performances;
  • Provide calibration expertise to establish the calibration performance, identify anomalies or inconsistencies in the Level-1 radiometric calibration chain, and work with instrument and processing experts to troubleshoot, determine root causes, and develop solutions;
  • Support the maintenance and monitoring of the current EUMETSAT in-house calibration tools;
  • Support scientific development, prototyping and operational implementation of vicarious and inter-calibration methods for optical imaging sensors, from UV to thermal infrared;
  • Initiate, manage and exploit internal and external studies on the extension of relevant calibration and inter-calibration methods and activities;
  • Support the activities with the international research working groups (e.g. GSICS) in the development of common methods of satellite inter-calibration and vicarious calibration.
 

LOCATION

Darmstadt, Germany

QUALIFICATIONS

University degree in remote sensing, meteorology or equivalent

LANGUAGES

Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have some knowledge of French.

DEADLINE

27 May 2025

Duties

  • Acquire and maintain an in-depth understanding of the imagers, polarimeters and imaging spectrometers of current (EPS, MSG, MTG-I, Sentinel-3) and future (MTG-S, EPS-SG, CO2M) satellite systems and of their Level-1 processing and radiometric performances;
  • Provide calibration expertise to establish the calibration performance, identify anomalies or inconsistencies in the Level-1 radiometric calibration chain, and work with instrument and processing experts to troubleshoot, determine root causes, and develop solutions;
  • Support the maintenance and monitoring of the current EUMETSAT in-house calibration tools;
  • Support scientific development, prototyping and operational implementation of vicarious and inter-calibration methods for optical imaging sensors, from UV to thermal infrared;
  • Initiate, manage and exploit internal and external studies on the extension of relevant calibration and inter-calibration methods and activities;
  • Support the activities with the international research working groups (e.g. GSICS) in the development of common methods of satellite inter-calibration and vicarious calibration.

Skills and Experience

  • In-depth knowledge of the physics of optical remote sensing;
  • Knowledge of vicarious radiometric calibration and inter-calibration techniques is considered a strong asset;
  • Demonstrated experience of working with optical imaging instruments Level-1 products, in the development phase or the operational phase;
  • Proven experience in developing scientific application software using Python. Familiarity with databases and additional expertise in general-purpose programming languages (such as C++ and Java) is an advantage;
  • Excellent analytical, synthesis, and presentation skills, paired with strong interpersonal abilities and a proven track record of successfully applying these skills within teams and across multidisciplinary collaborations.

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 7,340 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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