Research Fellow

Location:  

Highfield Campus

Salary:  

£34,980
Per annum

Full Time Fixed Term for 18 months

Closing Date:  

Friday 15 December 2023

Interview Date:  

Monday 22 January 2024

Reference:  

2527123WR

Research Fellow in remote sensing of crops (x2)   

We are seeking to recruit two research fellows in remote sensing of crops to support to support and lead research activities in a number of externally funded projects. More specifically, they will contribute to the following projects:

Key research activities will focus on developing novel techniques to derive crop specific biophysical variables (e.g. Leaf Area Index, Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetic Active Radiation and Canopy Chlorophyll Content), crop phenology and productivity at a continental scale from existing satellite sensors. Further activities would involve integrating these variables with crop models to improve crop yield prediction and detection of crop stress. You will be based at the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton and work closely with members of Southampton Geospatial. You will join a growing team of ten researchers exploring new methods and techniques to utilise space-based information for environmental monitoring. The team work closely with the European Space agency’s Sentinel programme and the UK’s Earth Observation from climate information (EOCIS) programme. You will have access to state-of-the art spectroscopy laboratory and high performance computing facility to undertake your research. 

  The specific work to be undertaken involves:

• Processing Earth Observation (EO) data (primarily European Space Agency’s Sentinel Sensors) to generate dataset of crop biophysical variables and validate them with field observation.
• Developing  space time data analysis techniques to derive information on crop phenology and productivity at selected study sites in Europe and Australia 
• Integrating the EO derived crop variables with crop models and assess their performance.
• Evaluate the potential of using the EO based indicators to monitoring crop health

You will have a strong remote sensing and image analysis skills with experience in the development and validation of biophysical variables from satellite data, previous experience with satellite derived vegetation products and time series analysis are essential for the role. You would expected to have a good knowledge of programming and experience of using cloud based data processing infrastructure and/or high performance computing.

The University of Southampton, one of the UK’s top 10 research-intensive universities, is in the top 1% of world Universities. We have an international reputation for research, teaching and enterprise activities. 

The School of Geography and Environmental Science’s research collaborations are truly international, spanning 78 countries. In REF2021 , our School was ranked joint third nationally in geography and environmental studies on grade point average (a measure of overall research quality). Our research working environment was rated either world-leading or internationally excellent, whilst 75% of our research impact was rated world-leading. 

The School is committed to fostering a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion . We encourage applications from suitably qualified candidates from under-represented groups among academics at the University. We are a Disability Confident employer and the School holds a bronze Athena SWAN award

Applications for Research Fellow positions will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon successful completion of the PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Jadu Dash [email protected] .

Further details:

As a university we aim to create an environment where everyone can thrive and are proactive in fostering a culture of inclusion, respect and equality of opportunity. We believe that we can only truly meet our objectives if we are reflective of society, so we are passionate about creating a working environment in which you are free to bring your whole self to work. With a generous holiday allowance as well as additional university closure days we are committed to supporting our staff and students and open to a flexible working approach.

Apply by midnight on the closing date. For assistance contact Recruitment on +44(0)2380 592750 or [email protected] quoting the job number.