Remote Sensing Specialist for Forest Monitoring Tasks

at  GAF AG

GAF AG is an internationally operating company for cross-platform EO-based geoinformation solutions and for the development of innovative GIS and database applications. In addition to the reception and distribution of geodata, GAF holds a leading position in the areas of data refinement and geoconsulting due to its many years of expertise. With an international and interdisciplinary team of experts, GAF sets standards for individual consulting as well as for state-of-the-art cloud- and AI-based solutions in the field of satellite-based monitoring of future- and sustainability-oriented application areas.
To strengthen our capacities in the field of forest monitoring at our headquarters in Munich and to establish an interface with neighbouring specialist areas, we are now looking for a motivated

REQUIREMENTS:

• Educational background: Minimum MSc. degree in ecology, forestry or similar, preferably with a focus on remote sensing and one of the following disciplines: tropical forestry, land use
• Minimum 2 years of relevant working experience after University
• Profound knowledge on machine learning, neural networks, ensemble learning techniques
• Profound understanding of modular process chains for thematic image analysis
• Experience with workflows and modular process chains for thematic EO data analysis in Python covering electromagnetic wavelength of the optical, thermal and radar data domain
• Advanced practical experience in remote sensing, GIS, EO data processing / tropical forest / land use/land cover classification/damage assessment/tree species classification
• Advanced knowledge of the mathematical/physical basics of remote sensing and the thematic analysis of satellite data
• Excellent reporting skills
• Demonstrated report writing experience and skills required
• Experience in supporting and co-coordinating new projects related to business development
• Good communication skills to interface with the development teams, project managers and team leads
• Autonomous and self-responsible working as well as team working skills
• Excellent command of English (C1-C2 level according to the CEFR)

DESIRABLE KNOWLEDGE:

• Programming experience and skills, especially in Python and/or R
• Basic knowledge of geodatabases, GeoServer, OGC Standards
• Knowledge on Docker Container, Microservices
• Experience in Cloud Computing on AWS or OTC
• French or Spanish language skills would be an asset

REMOTE SENSING SPECIALIST FOR FOREST MONITORING TASKS

Our team is working in the tropical forest monitoring (including mangrove) domain using high-resolution and very high-resolution satellite data, to support countries with assessing deforestation rates for national and international policy processes. The technical work is complex as the applications are related to different ecosystems and require automated processing chains.
This is an opportunity for a specialist with relevant experience in remote sensing to develop his/her technical/project skills as well as professional career in an international organisation. With your expertise, you will form the interface between the specialised tasks focussing on forestry and environment and your colleagues and teams in technical development and implementation.

YOUR TASKS:

• Act as an interface between the business development team in the forest domain and the technical operational groups. This requires a thorough understanding of client programmes, challenges they face and how EO can provide solutions. The user requirements then need to be translated into technical specifications which can be communicated to the GAF technical groups for provision of relevant geo-spatial products.
• Provide support to business development in terms of researching and undertaking Policy Analysis on programmatic and international and national policy issues related to REDD+, Zero Deforestation, the new EU

Deforestation Free Supply Chain, SFM etc.

• Implementing forest and/or land use stratification for classfication work
• Support of conceptual development of workflows for automatisation of image processing process chains (e.g. time-series analysis, bulk image classification)
• Organising and implementing the tropical forest EO product generation under consideration of budget, schedule and resources
• Implementation of Quality Control and Quality Assurance of output products
• Support of project reporting and documentation of workflows and tools
• Supporting the forest team prepare new proposals; this will require understanding tender objectives, and preparing appropriate text which respond to the requirements.