Missions

Our team is looking for a post-doctoral researcher (12-month fixed-term contract) in remote sensing data analysis. He or she will work on characterising land cover changes over the Philippines region, the links with fire dynamics over the period (1995-2023) and the impacts on energy, water and carbon exchanges at the interface with the atmosphere. The tasks of the position will aim to (1) identify the needs in terms of defining the land cover classes for the ESA CCI High Resolution Land Cover project and the characteristics of future products, (2) process the land cover maps from the ESA CCI Medium Resolution Land Cover project at 300m resolution to identify changes over the study period and analyse the links with the fire maps from the ESA CCI Fires project, (3) to characterise these changes in terms of Plant Functional Types (PFTs), as used in the ORCHIDEE continental surface model, (4) to generate ORCHIDEE simulations over the study area at high resolution (0. 1°), (5) to analyse the simulations in terms of their impact on surface fluxes (6) to write a report and/or a scientific article on the work as a whole.

Activities

The candidate will :
- monitor land use in the study area at 300m using MRCL products between 1995 and 2023)
- quantify changes
- analyse fire data for the same region and analyse cross-correlations
- generate annual PFT maps for the ORCHIDEE model
- use ORCHIDEE to generate simulations of surface processes
- analyse the simulations
- write a report or article

Skills

- PhD in environmental sciences, applied mathematics, scientific computing (or a related field of physical or applied sciences),
- Experience recommended or recent graduates interested in climate science and biogeochemical cycles,
- Computer skills,
- Interest in programming: Python for science, Shell, and possibly Fortran,
- Interest in numerical modelling. Familiarity with at least one of the following will be appreciated: model-data comparison, process modelling, environmental physics, data science, big data.
- Fluency in English is required,
- Fluency in French is an asset.

Work Context

The position will be based at the LSCE laboratory (https://www.lsce.ipsl.fr). This is a world-class research laboratory, the result of collaboration between CEA, CNRS and the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin -UVSQ. The LSCE employs around 300 researchers, engineers and administrative staff, including numerous PhD and Masters students. Location: approximately 20 km from the heart of Paris, in the Orme des Merisiers green zone. The post-doc will be part of the MOSAIC team and will also work with partners.

Constraints and risks

None