Our team and mission

This 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:

• https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Copernicus_Sentinel_Expansion_missions;
• https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Going_hyperspectral_for_CHIME;
• The copernicus hyperspectral imaging mission for the environment (CHIME): an overview of its mission, system and planning status; SPIE Proceedings Volume 12729; 1272909 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2679977
   

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int

Field(s) of activity for the internship

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. 

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

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.

Additional requirements

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:

• Solid engineering background with familiarity in using a software simulator; 
• Programming skills and a basic understanding of space system design.