Missions

We are looking for an engineer (H/F) in the field of water cycle and hydrology studies to develop hydroclimatic modeling and Earth observation methods in tropical river basins. The mission will be to carry out tool development, calculation, and technical monitoring activities based on satellite data in order to model the hydrological dynamics of the Amazon and Congo basins. This is a 7-month fixed-term contract, possibly renewable, starting on December 1, 2025, within the ECHOS (Study of the Cryosphere and Hydrosphere through Space Observations) team at LEGOS (Laboratory for Studies in Geophysics and Space Oceanography, located within the Midi-Pyrénées Observatory in Toulouse. This mission is part of several projects funded within the team and in the context of the scientific exploitation of space missions (Sentinel, SWOT) to observe hydrology and the water cycle.

Activities

• You will have technical responsibility for one or more tasks (management, and validation of databases of hydrological products derived from space-based and in situ observations)
• You will be responsible for the strategy for validating and intercomparing space-based hydrological products and their scientific analysis, in particular the characterization of extreme hydrological events.
• You will participate in the development of hydrological simulations and hydrological data assimilation (SWOT types) in the MGB hydrological model.
• You will carry out activities with the aim of advancing the state of the art of current knowledge of the hydrology of the Amazon and Congo basins in the context of global change.
• You will participate in the writing of scientific articles for international journals.

Skills

Education and experience:
• Engineer/PhD in Earth sciences, hydrology, space science, modeling, and/or data science
• Programming (MATLAB, R, Fortran, Python), GIS (ArcGIS/QGIS)
• Experience required in topics related to hydrology and the large-scale water cycle and/or spatial data processing with applied experience in spatial hydrology and/or remote sensing of the water cycle

Personal qualities:
• Very good technical and scientific skills
• Initiative and innovation
• Enjoy working in a team, dynamic and open-minded, international context
• Excellent communication and writing skills in scientific French and English

Work Context

The contract will be carried out at LEGOS (Laboratory for Space Studies in Geophysics and Oceanography), a Joint Research Unit (UMR 5566) under the supervision of the University of Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, and IRD, with more than 150 employees. LEGOS conducts multidisciplinary research on the global environmental system, drawing on ocean physics, marine geochemistry and biogeochemistry, hydrology, and glaciology. LEGOS is heavily involved in university education and research training in France and internationally. The engineer will work under the supervision of Fabrice PAPA, Director of Research at IRD, in collaboration with numerous individuals involved in international projects related to space hydrology and hydroclimatic modeling of large tropical basins.

Constraints and risks

A mission (2 weeks) to Brazil should be considered in order to collaborate with project partners.