Intern in the Electrical Department - Wave Interaction and Propagation Section

ESA; Noordwijk; On-site; EUR 12,000 - 17,000; Full time

Job summary

ESA is offering an internship in the Wave Interaction and Propagation Section at ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands. The role focuses on modelling, data analysis and algorithmic development for space system payloads, including FORUM instrumentation and level-1/level-2 processing.

You will contribute to end-to-end simulator work, performance assessment and calibration algorithm prototyping, supported by a multidisciplinary team. English or French is required; optics background is a plus.

Qualifications

• Must be a university student, preferably in final or second-to-last year at Master’s level.
• Must be enrolled at university for entire duration of internship.
• Good knowledge of English or French; knowledge of another ESA language is an asset.
• Knowledge of optics (wave propagation and/or instrumentation) is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Ingest the outcome of on-ground characterisation tests of the instrument as parametrisation of the FORUM end-to-end simulator, to assess expected performances of the mission.
• Use the FORUM end-to-end simulator to generate reference datasets for Level 2 geophysical retrievals and for the operational ground segment.
• Possibly contribute to prototyping calibration algorithms for FORUM.

Skills

Numerical modelling

Data analysis

Python

Matlab

C++ (asset)

Education

Master's student

Tools

End-to-end simulator

Geophysical processing

Job description

The Wave Interaction and Propagation Section covers the understanding of the behaviour of electromagnetic waves (from a few megahertz to optical wavelengths) in a variety of media - both natural and man-made - and environmental conditions, and the application of this understanding to the development and exploitation of space systems. This includes modelling, data analysis and algorithmic development, as well as experimental validation of models and algorithms. It contributes to the performance assessment of space missions. The position is Intern in the Electrical Department - Wave Interaction and Propagation Section.

• Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
• Type of appointment: Intern

Our team and mission

More specifically this includes:

• wave propagation relevant to space communications, navigation and remote sensing;
• wave interaction for active, passive and combined remote sensing of ocean, land and atmosphere of the Earth and other planets;
• in-situ characterisation of the interaction/propagation environment;
• payload data processing and data science techniques, simulation and performance evaluation tools.

For what concerns:

• theoretical modelling and experimental validation;
• associated processing, mitigation, retrieval, correction and calibration algorithms for product generation. For remote sensing this includes algorithmic developments relevant to the generation of Lvl1 (physical observable) and Lvl2 (geophysical quantity) data products;
• for remote sensing, design and validation of on-board processing functions/algorithms for payload data products, image processing and optical payload data compression;
• contribution to mission performance assessment and to data products quality monitoring and improvement.

Field(s) of activity for the internship

FORUM is the Far-infrared, Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring mission, a research mission of the Earth Observation Directorate. It will be the first mission to take global measurements of Earth’s outgoing spectrum in the far-infrared at unprecedented resolution. These data will be used to investigate climate feedback from water vapour and clouds and ultimately improve climate models. FORUM will embark two payloads; The FORUM Sounding Imager (FSI) which is a Fourier Transform Interferometer working in the 100 to 1600 cm-1 spectral region and the FORUM embedded Imager (FEI).

The Wave Interaction and Propagation Section provides expert support to the FORUM project on aspects related to instruments performances, Level 1 (from raw data to calibrated signal) and Level 2 (from calibrated signals to geophysical parameters) processors development, and mission performances evaluation.

In this position you will be involved in FORUM performance assessment activities:

• ingesting the outcome of the on-ground characterisation tests of the instrument as parametrisation of the FORUM end-to-end simulator, to assess expected performances of the mission. You will run several sensitivity studies as a function of geophysical scene, or settings of the ground processing algorithms, to assess the impact on the Level 1 products (calibrated signals);
• using the FORUM end-to-end simulator, you will generate reference datasets to support: (a) the assessment of the performances at Level 2 (geophysical retrievals), (b) further scientific activities and (c) the development of the operational ground segment;
• you could be involved in the prototyping of calibration algorithms for FORUM.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational EfficiencyFostering CooperationRelationship ManagementContinuous ImprovementForward Thinking

Education

You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of university course at Master's level. In addition, you must be able to prove that you will be enrolled at your university for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

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

Knowledge and background in optics (wave propagation and/or instrumentation) is an asset.

Additional requirements:

• skills in numerical modelling and data analysis;
• experience in software development and coding in languages such as Python and Matlab (knowledge of C++ is an asset).

Important Information and Disclaimer

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.

Nationality

Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.