Radar Remote Sensing of Vegetation

ORAU; Pasadena (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading aerospace research organization in Pasadena is offering research fellowships for highly-talented scientists in radar remote sensing of vegetation. Candidates will be involved in processing InSAR data, calibrating algorithms, and modeling ecosystems. Applicants should possess a Doctoral Degree in a related field. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to NASA’s Earth science missions within a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. with a focus on Earth science, remote sensing, or a related field.
• Experience in radar remote sensing and data analysis.
• Familiarity with Lidar data and ecosystem modeling techniques.

Responsibilities

• Process repeat pass InSAR data and implement data calibration algorithms.
• Extract vegetation parameters using remote sensing data.
• Contribute to ongoing NASA research projects.

Skills

Radar remote sensing

Data processing

Ecosystem modeling

InSAR data calibration

Lidar data processing

Education

Doctoral Degree

Job description

Overview

Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Reference Code: 0048-NPP-NOV26-JPL-EarthSci

Location: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

Field of Science: Earth Science

Description

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA’s missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.

This research opportunity is for candidates with special interest in radar remote sensing of vegetation. The proposed project includes radar scattering and ecosystem modeling. The remote sensing data is used to estimate vegetation 3D structure parameters such as height. The radar data (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar or inSAR) was collected by spaceborne ALOS/PALSAR and airborne UAVSAR systems. The candidate will be responsible for processing repeat pass inSAR data and implementing efficient data calibration algorithms based on heterogeneous spatial sampling of ground truth points. These points are extracted from existing Lidar (ICEsat/GLAS) and field data sets. The ecosystem models widely available in the literature will be driven using the derived vegetation parameters.

Selected References

Simard, M., Zhang, K., Rivera-Monroy, V. H., Ross, M., Ruiz, P., Castañeda-Moya, E., Twilley, E., Rodriguez, E. (2006). Mapping Height and Biomass of Mangrove Forests in the Everglades National Park with SRTM Elevation Data. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 72(3), 299–311.

Simard, M., DeGrandi, G., Saatchi, S., Mayaux, P. (2002). Mapping tropical coastal vegetation using JERS-1 and ERS-1 radar data with a decision tree classifier. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23(7), 1461-1474.

Location

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, California

Advisors

Marc Simard

[e-mail]

818-354-6972

Eligibility

Questions about this opportunity? Please email [e-mail]

Eligibility Requirements:

• Degree: Doctoral Degree.
• Applications with citizens from Designated Countries will not be accepted at this time, unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the United States. A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.
• Eligibility is currently open to: U.S. Citizens; U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR); Foreign Nationals eligible for an Exchange Visitor J-1 visa status; and Applicants for LPR, asylees, or refugees in the U.S. at the time of application with 1) a valid EAD card and 2) I-485 or I-589 forms in pending status.

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted in Zintellect. Please visit the NASA Postdoctoral Program website for application instructions and requirements. A complete application to the NASA Postdoctoral Program includes: Research proposal, Three letters of recommendation, Official doctoral transcript documents.

Application Deadline: 11/1/2026 6:00:59 PM Eastern Time Zone.

Application Contacts

Questions about this opportunity? Please email [e-mail]

Point of Contact: Mikeala