CRSA - Postdoctoral Researcher in Radiative Transfer Modeling for vegetation hydric status monitoring

About UM6P:

Located at the heart of the future Green City of Benguerir, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), a higher education institution with international standards, is established to contribute to the development of Morocco and the African continent. Its vision is honed around research and innovation at the service of education and development. This unique nascent university, with its state-of-the-art campus and infrastructure, has woven a sound academic and research network, and its recruitment process is seeking high quality academics and professionals in order to boost its quality-oriented research environment in the metropolitan area of Marrakech.

About CRSA:

CRSA is a transversal structure across several UM6P Programs. Research within the center is organized around several major areas that aim to ensure the challenging Food and Water security goal in Africa, with a special focus on developing methods/tools that use multi-source remotely sensed data. The research aims to improve our understanding of the integrated functioning of continental surfaces and their interaction with climate and humans, with emphasis on sustainable management of natural resources (soil, land, water, agriculture) in the context of Climate Change. One of center’s goals is to provide a set of services and operational products to users (local, national and international) that aid in the decision support of water and food systems.

Job Description:

Microwave and optical data provide complementary information on the water status of vegetation. Modeling radiative transfer in the canopy is essential for understanding the interaction between wavelength (optical or microwave) and the canopy, and enables us to better characterize the different physical processes governing the exchange of water and energy between vegetation, soil and atmosphere. This in turn is required for the estimation of different key variables important for monitoring vegetation water stress and managing irrigation water use (surface soil moisture, irrigation amounts and timing, vegetation water content, evapotranspiration, biomass…). In this context, we are seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join our team at the Center for Remote Sensing Applications at UM6P. The successful candidate will be part of a team working on the combined use of optical and microwave data with radiative transfer modeling and hydrological models to monitor the water status of vegetation. The candidate will focus in particular on radiative transfer modeling and the improvement of existing models.

Key Responsibilities:

• Simulate the spectral and directional reflectance of canopy components in the optical domain using the existing models (PROSAIL, DART…).
• Improve our understanding of interactions between microwaves and canopy components.
• Evaluation of existing radiative transfer models (WCM, MIMICS...) for simulating microwave backscatter and development of configurations adapted to specific plant cover. 
• Coupling optical and microwave radiative transfer models 
• Contribute to the development of inversion techniques to estimate the required variables by integrating satellite observations, ground measurements and physical models (radiative transfer and hydrological transfer).
• Participate in field data collection and data analysis
• Satellite images processing 
• Publish research findings in peer-reviewed journals and present results at conferences and workshops.
• Contribute to the supervision of master and PhD students.

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Physics, Remote Sensing, Applied mathematics, Earth Sciences, or related field.
• Strong background in physical modeling, remote sensing data analysis, images processing, and geospatial analysis.
• Experience working with satellite imageries (e.g., Sentinel-1, Landsat, Sentinel-2) and other remote sensing data sources.
• Proficiency in programming MATLAB and Python for data analysis and algorithm development.
• Knowledge of data assimilation and/or machine learning techniques is an added.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively in a collaborative research environment.

Applications and selection procedure:

Applications are to be sent on the hiring platform no later than June 30, 2024. The position is for two years starting in September 2024.

The application folder must contain:

• Cover letter indicating the position applied for and the main research interests.
• Detailed CV with list of publications.
• Declaration of research interest describing the candidate's experience (past and current work) and potential for the current position.
• Contact information of 2 references

Additional information

For any further information and/or specific queries, please contact Nadia Ouaadi: nadia.OUAADI@um6p.ma