Luxembourgish National Graduate Trainee in Land Surface Temperature Monitoring

Luxembourgish National Graduate Trainee in Land Surface Temperature Monitoring (LTSM) Data Science
The ESA National Graduate Trainee (NGT) Programmes offer recent Master's graduates the opportunity to gain practical, hands‐on experience at ESA across a range of space‐related disciplines. The programmes are essentially similar to ESA's own Graduate Trainee Programme, notably in offering the same employment conditions. They however differ in one important respect: each NGT Programme is funded by an individual ESA Member State or Associate Member under a bilateral partnership agreement concluded with ESA. As a result, a representative of the sponsoring State participates in the selection process. In addition to assessing candidates against the requirements of the position, the selection may also include an evaluation of their background and knowledge of the space policies and related activities of the sponsoring State.

Location
ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Grade Band: F1 - F1

Our team and mission
The Applications Section primarily engages in research and development (R&D) focused on Earth observation‐based solutions that contribute to addressing the European and global international environment and development agenda. Our projects typically involve active collaboration with Early Adopters at every stage, including design, development, and validation. This ensures the seamless integration of innovative EO-based solutions into end‐user operational systems and practices. The team is based at the ESRIN site of ESA, comprises nine Earth Observation (EO) experts. Each expert specialises in overseeing specific domains where EO data are applied. The team is part of the Green Solutions Division ( You are encouraged to visit the ESA website:

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship
High spatial resolution thermal satellite missions are expected to operate in the coming years. Among them, the European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the Land Surface Temperature Monitoring (LSTM) mission, which is scheduled to join the Copernicus Sentinel constellation in 2028. These satellites will possess thermal infrared observation capabilities over land and coastal regions, supporting agriculture management services and potentially offering a range of additional services.

In anticipation of the LSTM mission, ESA is conducting research projects that utilise data from currently available thermal sensors to develop future applications. This includes thermal data retrieved from the International Space Station through the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment (ECOSTRESS). During the traineeship you will work with various thermal and other remotely sensed datasets, primarily from ECOSTRESS but also from geostationary satellites. Your responsibilities will include calculating various indices, such as the Temperature Rising Index (efficient for agricultural drought monitoring), the Vegetation Condition Index, and the Standardized Precipitation Index. Upon obtaining these indices, you will analyse the responses of different drought indices to known drought events. Your specific tasks will include:

Selecting four study locations, comprising two in Europe (Northern and Mediterranean locations) and two in Africa (Sahel and Horn of Africa).

Understanding crops response to drought using geostationary land surface temperature, vegetation, and rainfall data, and developing a lag response model.

Validating the results with ECOSTRESS and European Drought Observatory data.

You will utilise ESA-supported cloud computing platforms for conducting your research.

Technical competencies
Knowledge of relevant technical and functional domains. Relevant experience gained during internships, project work and/or extracurricular or other activities. General knowledge of the space sector and relevant activities. Knowledge of ESA and its programmes and projects.

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 should have just completed, or be in the final year of your master's degree in a relevant scientific or engineering discipline.

Additional Requirements
You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team. The following would be considered an asset:

Previous experience of working in international teams

Knowledge in earth