postdoc positions - Earth observation

Submission Information
Publish Date: 
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Archive Date: 
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Job Summary
Job Category: 
Post-doctoral Positions and Fellowships
Institution Classification/Type: 
Foreign
Institution/Company: 
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
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unknown
Announcement
Job Announcement Text: 

SRON's mission is to bring about breakthroughs in international space research. Therefore the institute develops pioneering technology and advanced space instruments, and uses them to pursue fundamental astrophysical research, Earth science and exoplanetary research. As national expertise institute SRON gives counsel to the Dutch government and coordinates national contributions to international space missions. SRON stimulates the implementation of space science in our society.

Our Earth Science Group has two vacancies for

PostDocs (f/m) vac.nr. 1213 (pos.1) and 1249 (pos.2)

 

Project Outline and Tasks – pos.1

The postdoc’s task will be part of an international project to define the future European carbon dioxide monitoring instrument as part of the EU Copernicus Space segment and to develop operational algorithms for methane and carbon monoxide retrieval for ESA’s Sentinel-5 mission. This project continues the Sentinel-5 Precursor heritage of SRON to infer information on atmospheric composition from satellite Earth observation for air quality and climate research. The work includes analysis of the instrument performance, sensitivity analyses, documentation, and generation of test data and will be performed in close collaboration with ESA and our international partners.

 

Project Outline and Tasks – pos.2

This project aims at exploiting the innovative HDO and H2O measurements from the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite mission, to be launched in autumn 2016. Its single instrument payload TROPOMI will provide unprecedented measurements of atmospheric water vapor and its heavy water isotopologue HDO, giving us new insides in the Earth hydrological cycle.

The main task of the postdoc is to infer water vapor and HDO total column density from TROPOMI shortwave infrared measurements at 2.3 μm and to validate the data products with ground-based measurements of the NDACC and TCCON network. Here, different retrieval strategies need to be compared and data continuation with the previous SCIAMACHY mission must be envisaged. To demonstrate the data use of the H2O/HDO data product, satellite data will be interpreted in close collaboration with modeling groups focusing on the atmospheric water cycling.

 

Requirements

For these positions we are looking for scientists with a PhD degree in (astro)physics or computational sciences with strong computer programming skills, good writing capabilities, and experience in retrieval of atmospheric trace gases (for pos. 1 just preferably). Good knowledge of the English language is essential, and the candidate should be able to work both independently and in a team.

 

Employment conditions

Employment of these full-time positions as a Scientist C at SRON-Utrecht is by NWO (The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) and will be for a period of 2 years with the option for an extension. The salary will be in accordance with the salary scales of NWO with a maximum of €4.089,- gross per month on a full-time basis (highly depending on education and relevant experience).

NWO has good secondary employment conditions such as:

  • An end of year bonus of 8,33% of the gross yearly salary;
  • 42 days of vacation leave a year on full-time basis;
  • An excellent pension scheme;
  • Options for (additional) personal development;
  • Excellent facilities for parental leave;
  • A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross yearly salary.

 

For further information:

For further information about the position, please contact dr. Jochen Landgraf (+31 (0)88 777 5842) or prof.dr. Ilse Aben, telephone +31(0)88.777.5879. More information about SRON can be found at www.sron.nl.

 

Letter of application

If you wish to apply you can send a motivation letter with CV and the name(s) and address(es) of reference(s) (incl. phone and e‑mail) to [email protected]

Please state the vacancy number "SRON 1213" or “SRON1249” in the subject of your mail and your application letter. Applications will be accepted until end of  Sept.  2016.

 

Included Benefits: 

see above

Application Deadline: 
Friday, September 30, 2016
Current Status of Position: 
No Status Given (Opted Out)
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