The successful candidate will primarily contribute to the project “10 Years of SMOS – Passive Microwave Vegetation Opacity Study” (PM-SO-S) funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). The main scientific challenge is to develop a model to describe the so-called "Vegetation Optical Depth" (VOD) at different microwave frequencies (1 - 40 GHz). In this project, the multi-frequency VOD model will be used to estimate VOD of different vegetation types from passive microwave measurements performed by spaceborne and ground-based radiometers. For use in a retrieval approach, such microwave emission models are designed as simply as possible, yet on the other hand, reflect reality as best as possible using measurable parameters. This type of microwave emission modeling is strongly linked to “geometric optics” or “ray tracing”, requiring knowledge in reflectivity, emissivity, and electromagnetic scattering.

Given these requirements, your successful application will require a PhD in physics or electrical engineering, or in another area with a strong engineering/scientific basis. On the one hand, you must have physical, mathematical, and programming skills. On the other hand, you will need a pragmatic sense for simplification in data analysis, complemented with practical competences gained from work with hardware or field-work, for instance. Just as important is your ability to communicate openly and collegially in order to successfully contribute to the research output of our small microwave group with links to international groups in the field of microwave remote sensing.