Young Graduate Trainee for Earth Observation data ground operations

Under the direct authority of the Director of Earth Observation Programmes, the Head of the Mission Management & Ground Segments Department is responsible for the management of EO missions handled by ESA in Phase E2 and for the design, development and operation of the related Payload Data Ground Segments (PDGS) and related data management. This includes project management of Programmes and missions in their exploitation phase (E2 and beyond) and implementation of R&D projects related to ground segment and data management.

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

As a YGT, you will be involved in detailed internal study of the stability and calibration of air quality measurement devices, based on commercial-grade sensors and microcontrollers (Raspberry, Arduino).

You will first contribute to analysis of sensors currently used in ESA’s Air Quality Platform Operational Project to measure the different pollutants/gasses and propose alternatives with a view to measurement repeatability and accuracy.

You will identify possible calibration alternatives, with particular emphasis on approaches that do not require availability of expensive reference source or measurement tools and can be implemented in a secondary school laboratory. The possible expected errors of the methods will be characterised in terms of bias and variance.

You will characterise the performance, design engineer, connectivity, block diagram and other characteristics of the current sensors used in AQP when the information from manufacturer datasheets is missing.

You will design an electronic system  to check the functionality of the currently-used sensors for the AQP. This system will be able to check both the static and dynamic working range of the sensors in order to prepare the first step for the calibration activity.

You will carry out statistical analyses of the time series acquired in one year of operations from the different AQPs.

Lastly, you will be involved in selecting suitable satellite observation data (e.g. Sentinel 5P) that can be used to overlay ground measurements done by these Platforms.

For reference, see the work done for the ESA’s Living Planet Symposium 2019 at: https://lps19airquality.esa.int/

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of a university course at Masters level (or equivalent) in a technical or scientific discipline.

Specific knowledge in one of the following disciplines shall be considered an asset: metrology, microcontrollers programming, atmospheric chemistry.

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.　

You should demonstrate good interpersonal skills and the capacity to work both independently and as part of a team. 　

During the interview your motivation and overall professional perspective/career goals will also be explored.