VN 25/49 Remote Sensing Scientist - Altimetry

EUMETSAT’s activities in the ocean surface topography chain has substantially expanded these last years with the Copernicus Programme.

The Sentinel-3 marine mission is today fully operational. It is operated by EUMETSAT which has the responsibility to deliver the marine products and services from the Surface Topography Mission instruments. The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission is operated by EUMETSAT and is the new Reference Altimetry Mission for the worldwide altimetry constellation since April 2022. Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-6 satellites (including recurrent units) will thus provide, essential topography products and services for operational oceanography through at least 2030.

Looking further ahead, EUMETSAT is starting the preparation of the future Copernicus altimetry missions to launch in the coming years: these are the next generation of Copernicus satellites (Sentinel-3 Topography NG and Sentinel-6 NG) and the CRISTAL mission, that will provide additional SAR altimeter measurements over the global ocean.

As a member of the Altimetry Team in the Marine Applications Competence Area of the Remote Sensing and Products (RSP) Division, the Remote Sensing Scientist – Altimetry will be responsible and will contribute to the scientific development, maintenance, evolution and validation of remote sensing products derived current and future altimetry missions operated by EUMETSAT.

Duties

• Support altimetry mission in operations (Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-6) with respect to processing anomalies, change requests, new processing baselines and baseline regression testing;
• Plan, develop and perform the calibration, validation and monitoring of altimeter products from the current missions, including with development of required tools and methods;
• Support preparation and completion of commissioning activities for the new missions to come (Sentinel-3 C/D and Sentinel-6 B/C);
• Define, develop and prototype new or improved processing algorithms, and contribute to the implementation, testing and validation of operational processors used to extract products from altimetry missions;
• Support the development of the Ground Segment for the upcoming CRISTAL and Sentinel-3 Next Generation Topography mission in all aspects related to data processing, products definition and calibration/validation;
  • Contribute to the detailed formulation of requirements for new and improved Copernicus altimetry products and data services, responding to the evolving needs of the Copernicus Services and users;
  • Initiate, manage and exploit internal and external studies related to altimetry processing and calibration/validation;
  • Actively support operational and scientific interactions with the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service, user communities and international partners (i.e. ESA, CNES, NOAA, NASA);
  • Provide product and processing expertise in support of re-processing for climate applications;
  • Acquire and maintain an in depth understanding of the observational capabilities of the Copernicus altimeter suite of instruments.

    LOCATION Darmstadt, Germany

    QUALIFICATIONS

    University degree in remote sensing, meteorology or equivalent.

    LANGUAGES

    The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and have some knowledge of French.

    DEADLINE

    9 September 2025

    Duties

    • Support altimetry mission in operations (Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-6) with respect to processing anomalies, change requests, new processing baselines and baseline regression testing;
    • Plan, develop and perform the calibration, validation and monitoring of altimeter products from the current missions, including with development of required tools and methods;
    • Support preparation and completion of commissioning activities for the new missions to come (Sentinel-3 C/D and Sentinel-6 B/C);
    • Define, develop and prototype new or improved processing algorithms, and contribute to the implementation, testing and validation of operational processors used to extract products from altimetry missions;
    • Support the development of the Ground Segment for the upcoming CRISTAL and Sentinel-3 Next Generation Topography mission in all aspects related to data processing, products definition and calibration/validation;
      • Contribute to the detailed formulation of requirements for new and improved Copernicus altimetry products and data services, responding to the evolving needs of the Copernicus Services and users;
      • Initiate, manage and exploit internal and external studies related to altimetry processing and calibration/validation;
      • Actively support operational and scientific interactions with the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service, user communities and international partners (i.e. ESA, CNES, NOAA, NASA);
      • Provide product and processing expertise in support of re-processing for climate applications;
      • Acquire and maintain an in depth understanding of the observational capabilities of the Copernicus altimeter suite of instruments.

        Skills and Experience

        • In-depth scientific knowledge of altimetry observations of the ocean including sea-ice and coastal areas, measurement physics and retrieval algorithms, preferably in a complex operational environment; knowledge of swath altimetry processing and data products is an asset;
        • Experience in calibration and validation activities for altimeters;
        • Experience in the definition and development of prototypes or operational processors, including data processing framework;
        • Demonstrable experience of working in a UNIX environment and with scientifically-oriented coding languages, preferably Python and/or Matlab. Knowledge of C/C++ is an asset;
        • Experience in working with altimetry user communities and researchers. In addition, familiarity with the Copernicus Programme and Copernicus services in particular are an asset;
        • Strengths in analysis, synthesis and presentation, including demonstrated experience in writing scientific and technical documents;
        • Excellent interpersonal skills and a proven ability to apply these to the interactions within a team and between teams.

          Employment Conditions

          The initial contract will be of 4 years’ duration, with subsequent 5 year contracts being awarded thereafter, subject to individual performance and organisation requirements. There is no limit to the amount of follow-up contracts a staff member can receive up to the EUMETSAT retirement age of 63 and there are certainly opportunities to establish a long career perspective at EUMETSAT.
          This post is graded A2/A4 on the EUMETSAT salary scales. The minimum basic salary for this post is EURO 7,340 per month (net of internal tax but excluding pension contribution and insurances) which may be negotiable on the basis of skills and experience. The salary scale provides for increments on the anniversary of taking up employment, and scales are reviewed by the EUMETSAT Council with effect from 1 January each year. In addition to basic salary, EUMETSAT offers attractive benefits. Further information, including salary details, is available on the EUMETSAT web site.
          
          EUMETSAT is committed to providing an equal opportunities work environment for men and women.
          Please note that only nationals of EUMETSAT Member States may apply. The EUMETSAT Convention requires that Staff shall be recruited on the basis of their qualifications, account being taken of the international character of EUMETSAT.

          About EUMETSAT

          EUMETSAT is Europe’s meteorological satellite agency. Its role is to establish and operate meteorological satellites to monitor the weather and climate from space - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This information is supplied to the National Meteorological Services of the organisation's Member States in Europe, as well as other users worldwide.
          
          EUMETSAT also operates several Copernicus missions on behalf of the European Union and provide data services to the Copernicus marine and atmospheric services and their users.
          
          As an intergovernmental European Organisation, EUMETSAT has 30 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.)