Internship Opportunity in the Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes.
Location
NoordwijkThis position is based at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) - Noordwijk, Netherlands
Within the Earth Observations Projects Department, the Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions are currently under development. One of those missions is the CHIME (Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment). CHIME plans to carry a unique visible to shortwave infrared spectrometer to provide routine hyperspectral observations to support new and enhanced services for sustainable agricultural and biodiversity management, as well as soil property characterisation.
You will be able to join the CHIME project, participating as part of the system engineering and satellite engineering section in activities related to Onboard Satellite Artificial Intelligence Processing and the evaluation of end-to-end mission performances.
Further details on the CHIME mission can be found at:
Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int
Topic of the internship: System Modelling for improved Satellite Onboard AI Functionality
You will help develop and validate a Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm that will be employed on-board the CHIME satellite for the automated detection and classification of floating debris in the hyperspectral data generated over the oceans. The SVM model will be trained on a labelled dataset of known debris types and non-debris regions. Hyperparameter tuning and feature selection will be conducted to optimize the SVM model's performance.
Part of the on-ground validation of this function will rely on generating representative marine datasets with the CHIME Scene Generator Module (SGM). Additionally, you will be responsible to define the reference scenes to ingest in the end-to-end simulator (E2E) and contribute to the validation of the SVM performances on a representative test bench with CHIME-like hyperspectral data.
Part of your activities may involve support to the evaluation of system constraints for systematic acquisition of data over marine areas and for ad-hoc acquisition during night time.
This approach will also allow to prototype L2 products for applications.
Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking
For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook
You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of a university course at Master’s level and you need to remain enrolled at your University for the entire duration of the internship.
The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.
You should also have:
Other information
ESA is an equal opportunity employer, committed to achieving diversity within the workforce and creating an inclusive working environment. We therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, beliefs, age, disability or other characteristics. Applications from women are encouraged.
At the Agency we value diversity, and we welcome people with disabilities. Whenever possible, we seek to accommodate individuals with disabilities by providing the necessary support at the workplace. The Human Resources Department can also provide assistance during the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us via email at contact.human.resources@esa.int.
Please note that applications are only considered from nationals of one of the following States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, as Associate Member States, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Croatia and Cyprus as European Cooperating States (ECS).
