Our team and mission

The Earth Science Division, of the Climate Action, Sustainability and Science Department, Earth Observation Programmes Directorate, is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre. The Earth and Mission Science Division provides the creative vision for innovation and new discoveries in Earth system science, using Earth Observation (EO) in close cooperation with the scientific community.

The Earth and Mission Science Division team:

• bridges science and technology by translating ideas and concepts into technical reality and scientific success. It does this by defining, consolidating and managing scientific mission requirements throughout all phases of a mission, and by measuring the maturity of the resulting mission concept;
• manages scientific research-based studies, providing the scientific foundation for mission concepts and approval, supports the successful development of space and ground segment, in-orbit satellite commissioning and in-orbit scientific achievements;
• undertakes airborne, marine and terrestrial campaigns contributing to the development of new technologies, mission feasibility assessments, calibration/validation and application development.

You will work within the Campaigns Section of the Earth and Mission Science Division, whose role is to provide support throughout the preparation and development of new future Earth Observation missions, and to validate the data being delivered by those satellites already in orbit. Your activities will contribute to and benefit from a diverse and international team of scientists working across a variety of Earth Science disciplines in support of Earth Explorer, Copernicus Sentinels, Earth Watch and other EO missions.

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

Field(s) of activity for the internship

ROSE-L (Radar Observing System over Europe in L-band) is a Copernicus Expansion SAR mission that will provide L-band radar imaging of Europe, the global landmass, ice, and oceans. The uniqueness of ROSE-L is linked to the L-band wavelength, that penetrates deeper into natural materials like vegetation, dry snow, and ice compared to C-band, and enhances robustness for interferometric applications in scenarios with abrupt and large surface and ice motion. By coordinating data collection with Sentinel-1 operating at C-band, ROSE-L will maximise the benefits for users providing complementary information, more frequent radar images, and improved coverage across Europe and globally.
The expanding availability of L-band satellite observations from missions such as the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission (NISAR), the JAXA ALOS-2 mission and the CONAE SAOCOM mission, together with dedicated airborne campaigns such as AGRIROSE-L and AfriSAR-2, provides a unique opportunity to support and shape future ROSE-L science activities through the analysis of real datasets.

The European Space Agency is seeking a motivated and enthusiastic intern to support the assessment of the sensitivity and added value of L-band radar observations for selected applications.

During your internship you will:

• identify, collect and process datasets from existing L-band SAR satellite missions and/or airborne campaigns such as AgriROSEL using established tools;
• transform the SAR image data into information such as soil moisture, land cover, forest biomass and other geophysical products for selected application areas, and assess the quality of the information through comparison with independent measurements e.g. field measurements;
• investigate the unique capabilities of L-band observations and their complementarity with other radar missions, with particular emphasis on the Sentinel-1 mission;
• document the datasets, methods, assumptions and analysis results in a clear, traceable and reproducible manner.

Learning objectives

By the end of the internship, you will have developed practical experience in:

• understanding how future Earth Observation missions are scientifically prepared, assessed and validated within ESA;
• processing and analysing spaceborne and airborne radar imagery;
• understanding how radar measurements contribute to higher-level geophysical products;
• communicating technical results through documented and reproducible analyses.

More information on the ROSE-L mission can be found here: Copernicus L-band SAR Mission Requirements Document.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

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.

During the interview, your motivation for applying to this role will be explored.

You should also have:

• solid understanding of at least one Earth observation application relevant to ROSE-L;
• demonstrable programming skills in Python;
• experience in processing and analysing satellite imagery.

Knowledge of Synthetic Aperture Radar principles, microwave remote sensing, or geospatial data analysis would be considered an asset.