Scientific Programmer, InSAR services (Processor Development)

Job sharing arrangements will be considered

The School of Earth and Environment is seeking to recruit a scientific programmer with knowledge of radar processing to help develop a real-time Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) processing engine.

The launch of the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1A satellite in April 2014, followed by Sentinel-1B in April 2016, has led to a dramatic increase in the volume of freely and openly available radar data. This in turn has the potential to transform our ability to monitor ground deformation at high spatial resolution for a variety of applications, including seismic hazard monitoring.

Joint-funded by the Looking inside the Continents from Space (LiCS) and European Plate Observing System (EPOS) projects, you will assist with the development of an automatic InSAR processing system for data from the Sentinel-1 satellites. A major part of this post will be the development of specific radar processing modules in phase unwrapping, geocoding and quality control, and modules for ensuring that the results are available via the wider EPOS system.

LiCS is a NERC-funded consortium grant using data from the Sentinel-1 constellation to revolutionise our knowledge of how continents deform, how strain accumulates during the earthquake cycle, and how seismic hazard is distributed.  You will contribute to the LiCS aim of mapping rates at which tectonic strain is building up across the continents, using satellite observations to test and constrain physical models. You will also make an important contribution to Leeds’ participation in EPOS, a pan-European project which aims to integrate data use, products, and facilities for solid Earth science across the continent. You will assist by facilitating access to satellite Earth Observation data and services and sharing observational strategies with project partners. In addition, you will be expected to play an active role in the Leeds-based Centre for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET), attending internal and external meetings and contributing to project plans, objectives and communications. 

You will have a Masters degree or PhD (or be close to obtaining) in physics, geophysics, engineering, mathematics, computer science or a related subject, or have equivalent experience in industry. You will have a high level of ability and experience in scientific computer programming and coding using languages such as FORTRAN, IDL, C, ADA and PERL and experience. In addition, you will have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work as part of a team.

Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Andy Hooper, tel +44 (0)113 343 7723, email: A.Hooper@leeds.ac.uk or Professor Tim Wright. tel +44 (0)113 343 5258, email: T.J.Wright@leeds.ac.uk

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