Missions

The postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for developing tools to monitor slow ground movements by correlating Planetscope satellite images: testing, validation, and development of specific processing methods.

This postdoctoral position is funded by the Labcom project.

Activities

Catastrophic ground movements can be preceded by slow movements lasting from several days to several years. These movements can be detected and tracked by satellites, either using radar or optical sensors. Since 2016, data from PlanetScope satellites (a constellation of more than 130 satellites) have provided a near-daily image of any point on the globe with 3m resolution (Roy et al., 2021), opening up the possibility of detecting transient movements at different time scales (inter-annual, seasonal, a few days), which may be either reversible or irreversible, leading to accelerations up to a rupture (Lacroix et al., 2023; Handwerger et al., 2025).

Based on alpine sites of varying sizes and speeds, monitored using independent techniques (GNSS, RFID, etc.), the candidate's tasks will be:
- To test and validate the displacement fields obtained by PlanetScope image correlation.
- Propose strategies for selecting and matching satellite images, filters adapted to different forest cover types, and implement these new features in the processing chain.
- Research a method for automatically selecting cloud-free images of the area of interest.
- Recommend different calculation strategies depending on the speed/size/forest cover/slopes of ground movements, as well as a quantified estimate of uncertainties. This innovative applied research project could, in the medium term, enable the monitoring of certain ground movements by satellite.
- Participate in the dissemination of these results to other scientists as well as engineers from design offices responsible for assessing gravitational risk.
- Participate in field visits to validate these results.
- Write scientific articles in peer-reviewed international journals (in English) and, if necessary, operational reports that may be useful to other team members.
- Participate in international meetings (EGU, AGU, etc.) and present your results orally

Skills

- Satellite image processing
- Training in programming.
- Interest in natural hazards, particularly gravitational processes.
- Doctoral and/or post-doctoral experience in one or more of the following fields: remote sensing, geophysics, natural hazards.
- An interest in the application of science to civil society.

Work Context

ISTerre is a joint research unit of the University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, USMB, IRD and Gustave Eiffel University, located at 1381 rue de la Piscine, 38400 Saint-Martin d'Hères and on the Bourget du Lac Science Campus. The successful candidate will join the GRE team within the ISTerre laboratory.
It is part of the Grenoble Observatory of Universe Sciences (OSUG) and the PAGE Research Centre at the University of Grenoble Alpes (UGA). It has a staff of around 300 and an average annual budget of €7 million.

It is organised around nine research and service teams, with the scientific objective of studying the physical and chemical properties of planet Earth, focusing in particular on the links between observations of natural objects, experimentation and modelling of the associated complex processes.
ISTerre also carries out solid Earth observation missions, hosts and maintains national parks of geophysical instruments, and operates a data centre.

The successful candidate will also be required to visit the Géolithe premises in Crolles, near Grenoble, once or twice a month to promote exchanges and the integration of results in a design office context.

This postdoctoral position is funded by the Labcom project.

Constraints and risks

/