USTH_2016: Call for PhD. Candidate 2016 in remote sensing.

USTH_2016: Call for PhD. Candidate 2016 in remote sensing.

Spatio-temporal patterns of suspended particles in coastal waters under large river-controlled

Project description The availability of High Resolution Imagery (spatial, spectral, and radiometric) with an increased time revisit (Landsat-8 and now Sentinel-2) opens the way to a more detailed observation of coastal zones and inland waters (large rivers, lakes and reservoirs) and offers an incomparable tool for water composition monitoring such as the suspended particulate matter (SPM). Quantifying the SPM budget in coastal zones from remote sensing analysis constitutes an important challenge as SPM is a key parameter in numerous economic and societal aspects such as coastal management, navigation ability, erosion and accumulation of sediments, transport of pollutants, fisheries productivity, and drinking water resource, etc. However, this budget is still not properly understood. The main reasons are that: 1) most of standard atmospheric corrections over coastal and inland waters failed and 2) coastal and inland waters are optically complex; as a consequence it impacts the accuracy of SPM algorithms and therefore the retrieval of accurate SPM values from satellites. The main objective of this project consists in improving our understanding of the spatio-temporal patterns of SPM in coastal zones under large river networks and thus from high resolution remote sensing data series analysis. Two specific study-sites are selected (i.e., Vietnam and French Guiana) where strong research has already been undertaken by our team. The project interacts with several ongoing projects from the French national agency for space research (CNES). The multi-site’ strategy allows us to integrate: 1) spatial differences for rich turbid systems ranging from oligotrophic waters to ultra-turbid environments exceeding 1000 NTU and 2) the temporal evolution of SPM rates in relationship with the monsoon activity over three different river network systems (i.e., Mekong, Red river, and Amazon). The planned project involves a combination of approaches, including in situ points, physical measurements, and remote sensing treatments. Sedimentary sources and related processes, hydrological forcings and meteorological conditions are also considered to fully address what are the SPM origins. An important part of the study is based on high resolution datasets for which satellites Landsat-8, Sentinel-2 observing the coastal zones from land are available. We propose to develop, test, implement and validate methods for deriving accurate SPM concentrations above coastal and inland waters. The comparison between various optical sensors such as MERIS, MODIS, HICO, ETM, ETM+, Sentinel-2 or SPOT under various scales of observations offer us the opportunity to better understand what may be the benefit of the spatial resolution increase for turbidity mapping. Taking the advantages of the high resolution, a particular interest will be lead on the analysis of the interface between continental and coastal zones where several oceanographic structures can be observed (e.g., river discharges, plumes, turbidity front variation, flooding impact, gyres as a function of current, resuspended materials from intertidal domain, etc.). Especially in monsoon-controlled regions such as in Vietnam, SPM concentration and distribution is changing along the year. This opens the possibility to study the processes controlling the seasonality of large river delta plumes using time series analysis. In parallel, additional work in inland water is planned in a source-to-sink approach to better define the export of SPM from the continental area towards coastal zones.Research Profiles We are seeking a highly motivated student holding a master thesis degree in relevant subject (oceanology, earth sciences) interested in working in interdisciplinary setting, with experience in remote sensing, or GIS, or landscape modeling, and / or hydrology, and good verbal and written English communication skills. Note that TOEIC, or equivalent English test is required for any application. Experience with programming in IDL or other programming language is ideal, but those without this experience should feel free to contact us to determine their fit to this position. Experience in field-surveys (ocean/continental) is also welcome. Strong commitment to collaborative work is necessary. This Ph.D. will be performed in collaboration with two research institutes of VAST, the Space Technology Institute (STI) and the Institute of Marine Environment and Resources (IMER). The applicant will also be involved in the research activities developed in the Hanoi International Laboratory of Oceanography (USTH). The Ph.D. fellow will join the team of the LOG-CNRS (http://log.univ-littoral.fr/), which in turn is part of highly dynamic, diverse and multidisciplinary group of the ULCO) which ranges in expertise from remote sensing, oceanology, coastal environment, earth sciences, biogeochemistry, modeling, to plankton and fish ecology. Conditions of Mobility of Researchers and workplace The initial appointment is available for three years in France. Ph.D. student is required to undertake transnational mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) when taking up their appointment. The Ph.D. project will be carried out at the Laboratoire d’Océanologie and Géosciences (LOG) belong to the ‘Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale’ in France where expertise on the remote sensing analysis and sedimentology are available. Registering and admission procedure USTH gives 40 scholarships for PhD candidates who are: University graduates within 12 months up to the application date, having at least Very Good Result; Master graduates within 12 months up to the application date, having at least Very Good Result with the average mark from 8.0/10); Permanent lecturers, definite or indefinite term contract lecturers working for universities, institutes, colleges (not including vocational colleges) who are Master’s degree holders, having at least Good Result. Application has to be online at:http://www.usth.edu.vn/en/usth-calls-for-ph-d-candidates-to-be-trained-in-france-in-2016/

• Registering time: From December 23rd, 2015 to March 23rd, 2016*
• Screening application dossiers at USTH
• Face to face interview by a specific jury of French and Vietnamese Professors.
• List of candidates who pass the interviews will be sent to MOET for review and approval for training abroad in 2016.

For further information Interested scientists should send a Statement of Interest (1-page maximum) that outlines some of the areas of potential research, academic resume, and the names of two references, to Dr. Charles Verpoorter (+33 3 21 99 64 06). E-mail enquiries and applications are welcome. Please use the subject header “USTH 2016” in all email correspondence. Starting date: 2016. Further information may be also obtained from Pr. Hubert Loisel (Hubert.loisel@univ-littoral.fr) based in Vietnam (USTH).