PostDoc (f/m/d) scaling hyperspectral data to quantify essential ecosystem variables

Through cutting-edge research in the fields of ENERGY, HEALTH and MATTER, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) solves some of the pressing societal and industrial challenges of our time. Join our 1.500 employees from more than 50 nations at one of our six research sites and help us moving research to the next level!

The Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) is a German-Polish research center for data-intensive digital systems research. CASUS was founded in 2019 in Görlitz and conducts digital interdisciplinary systems research in various fields such as earth systems research, systems biology and materials research.

CASUS together with the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) invites applications as PostDoc (f/m/d) scaling hyperspectral data to quantify essential ecosystem variables.

The position will be available at the earliest possible date. The employment contract is limited to three years. The places of work will be Leipzig and Görlitz.

The position is embedded in a project which aims to bridge scale gaps by integrating multi-scale data through multi-scale endmember extraction and unmixing, and by using generative deep learning methods to enhance the resolution of adjacent low resolution satellite or airborne data.

Within the scope of the advertised position, ecological applications of UAV hyperspectral mapping and super-resolution approaches will be developed and benchmarked for quantifying essential ecosystem variables to enable extrapolation of continuous ground or tower measurements over entire ecosystems and larger regions. The research work is carried out in close cooperation with CASUS and the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF).

Your tasks:

• Development of coregistered UAV, airborne and satellite training datasets in Germany across different land use types
• Characterisation and development of a standardized ground-truthing of key essential ecosystem variables (EEVs) such as Leaf Area Index (LAI), Gross Primary Production (GPP)
• Automated mapping (LAI, GPP, evapotranspiration, etc.) based on these hyperspectral data at the UAV, airborne and satellite scale
• Quantification of scale effects on remotely sensed ecosystem attributes related to the footprints of locally derived EEVs
• Linking the research at the hosting institutions, including repeated visits at each institute
• Open-source publication of data and processing procedures
• Publication of results in high quality journals

Your profile:

• PhD in remote sensing, ecology, earth science or related fields
• Experience in UAV surveying and data processing in an ecological context and/or hyperspectral data analysis
• Willingness to closely cooperate with other researchers in project
• Optional: Experience with machine learning and data science methods, python programming, forest ecology

Our offer:

• A vibrant research community in an open, diverse and international work environment
• Scientific excellence and extensive professional networking opportunities
• A wide range of qualification opportunities and individual career counseling provided by the Postdoc Center HZDR-TUD
• The employment contract is limited to three years
• Salary and social benefits in accordance with the collective agreement for the public sector (TVöD-Bund) including 30 days of paid holiday leave, company pension scheme (VBL)
• We support a good work-life balance with the possibility of part-time employment and flexible working hours
• Numerous company health management offerings

Kindly submit your completed application (including cover letter, CV, diplomas/transcripts, etc.) only via our Online-application-system. By submitting your application, you are agree that all organisations involved in the project have access to your application documents.

For any questions do not hesitate to ask Dr. Rebmann (corinna.rebmann@ufz.de) and Dr. Mallast (ulf.mallast@ufz.de).

Place of work: Görlitz

Working hours: 39 h/week

Deadline: 2 January 2023

Job-Id: 2022/202

At HZDR, we promote and value diversity among our employees. We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds regardless of gender, ethnic and social origin, belief, disability, age, and sexual orientation. Severely disabled persons are given preference in the event of equal suitability.