Department: Ncg – National Centre For Geocomputation
Vacancy ID: 008481
Closing Date: 24-Jan-2021

Maynooth University is committed to a strategy in which the primary University goals of excellent research and scholarship and outstanding education are interlinked and equally valued. We are seeking an enthusiastic Post-Doctoral Researcher/Data Scientist to join an exciting research project, SOil MOisture estimates from SATellite based Earth observations (SoMoSAT), for a period of 18 months. The aim of the overall project, which is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, is to derive high spatial and temporal resolution soil moisture estimates for Ireland. The successful candidate will work closely with the existing Data Scientist who is developing a novel data platform to ingest, analyse and fuse multi-thematic and multi-temporal data streams, including satellite and in situ data, using machine learning techniques to derive estimates of soil moisture from Earth Observation data. The successful candidate will employ outputs from the existing work packages, using suitable hydrological modelling techniques, to estimate soil moisture, ideally over the vertical soil profile. The role will also involve field work, deployment of instrumentation and identification of suitable test sites for drone surveys, which will be undertaken by a drone survey company. The successful candidate will be working as part of a wider project team including Rowan Fealy and Tim McCarthy from Maynooth University, and project partners in Teagasc, including Reamonn Fealy, Lilian O’Sullivan and Per-Erik Mellander,

The research will directly inform the strategic development of a national monitoring programme and generate a harmonised high resolution soil moisture product to underpin applications in a range of areas, including catchment management, sustainable land use management. The research will also assist in Ireland meeting its international reporting obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) through improved land use and soil respiration modelling; it will also inform national policy's in support of the Water Framework Directive and Nitrates Directive.

Salary

Post-Doctoral Researcher   €38,632 per annum (1 point with incremental progression)
Technical Officer Scale: €39,383 per annum (1 point with incremental progression))

Appointment will be made in accordance with the Department of Finance pay guidelines.

*New entrants to the public sector will be appointed on the first point of the Technical Officer pay scale.