Are you our new colleague?
Are you an ambitious post-doctoral scientist with strong numerical skills and experienced in atmospheric remote sensing or data processing? Then you are the person we are looking for.

You and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
You will analyze state-off-the-art observations of the greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 of the Japanese GOSAT-2 satellite and compare the results to the CH4 Sentinel 5(-Precursor) data product. With your support, we will prepare the methane data processing for the European Sentinel 5 mission to be launched in 2023 in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). With SRON’s long time knowledge and experience together we will take the next step in atmospheric remote sensing of greenhouse gases, a prerequisite for any future climate mitigation and adaptation approach.

Your position and team
You will be part of our team of 8 scientists working on trace gas retrieval in the Earth Science Group (ESG) of SRON. The ESG consists of approximately 25 scientists (permanent, postdocs, PhD students) that work on the data processing and interpretation of satellite instruments as well as the definition of new instrumentation and guiding the development. Our team develops algorithms for trace gas remote sensing, for operational data processing and validation and gives scientific guidance during the implementation phase of future missions.

Your project
You will analyze GOSAT-2 radiance observation using the RemoTeC software for atmospheric remote sensing of CH4 and CO2.  Detailed quality analysis of the data will give us inside in the GOSAT-2 mission performance and may lead to improvements of the retrieval approach. The data product will be made available for scientific community. Based on our experience with processing the CH4 Sentinel-5 precursor data product and using the knowledge gained from the GOSAT-2 analysis, you will work on the operational processing of Sentinel-5 data with its first launch in two years from now. You will present your results to the project team, our colleges at the agencies and at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.

Position requirements
We are looking for a person with a PhD in (atmospheric) physics, computer science or similar. Furthermore, a clear asset will be strong programming skills in Python, C++ or Fortran and experience in atmospheric trace gas and aerosol remote sensing. Good English language skills (speaking and writing) and the ability to both work in a team and independently are a necessity for us.

Fixed-term contract: 2 years, extension of this period depends on external funding.

What we offer
The position we offer at SRON is a full-time position in which you will be employed by NWO-I (The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research Institutes) for a period of 2 years. Extension of this period depends on external funding. The salary will be in accordance with NWO salary scale 10 with a maximum of € 4.514,– gross per month on a full-time basis (depending on your level of education and experience). Compensation for commuting expenses will be provided.

NWO has good secondary employment conditions such as:

• An end of year bonus of 8,33% of the gross yearly salary;
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross yearly salary;
• 42 days of vacation leave a year on full-time basis;
• An excellent pension scheme;
• Options for (additional) personal development;
• Excellent facilities for parental leave;
• Ample training opportunities;
• Possibility of flexible working hours;

Why SRON

SRON's mission is to achieve breakthroughs in international scientific research from space. To this end, SRON develops groundbreaking technology and advanced space instruments. SRON promotes societal applications for space technology.

About SRON
We have a strong international reputation as 'excellent in space research'. The quality and societal relevance of our science is considered ‘world-leading’. Our mission is to bring about breakthroughs in international space science.

Therefore our Instrument Science Group, supported on project basis by the Engineering Group, technologically enables breakthroughs in our science programmes:

Technology, Astrophysics, Earth science (atmospheric science), Exoplanetary science.