Engineer in Digital Soil Mapping position

Duration : 12 months

Location : INRA InfoSol, Orléans, France

Net monthly salary : 1563 €

Position available on February/March 2012

Context

The French programme on soil mapping aims to produce soil maps and associated databases at a scale of 1 :250,000. It is finalized on ca 80% of the French mainland territory. However, several areas are still missing. The objective is to take advantage of new technologies such as Digital Soil Mapping in order to facilitate the elaboration of soil maps where they are missing.

Work to carry on

One or two areas will be selected on the basis of the achievement priorities and of the availability of data. Several techniques of DSM will be tested, using available spatial data (ie. geological maps, digital elevation models, land cover maps, remote sensing data) either in supervised (ie. classifications, regressions etc. based on reference training areas) or unsupervised (ie. isocluster) methods. The work will be transferred to local partners for validation. Prediction maps should include an estimate of their accuracy. Results will be submitted to scientific journals.

Applicants

Applicants should be in possession of a Master of Science or a PhD.

They should send their CV and a cover letter. They can join letters from (and/or contact to) their previous employers or teachers, but this is not mandatory.

Skills may include : Soil science, mapping, GIS, classification and regression tools, remote sensing, etc. Fluent scientific English is recommended.

Contacts : Dominique.Arrouays@orleans.inra.fr; Marion.Bardy@orleans.inra.fr