Post Doc Tomography of Dimorphos’ internal structure with the JuRa Radar on board Juvenvats/HERA M/F

Organisation/Company

CNRS

Department

Institut de planétologie et d’astrophysique de Grenoble

Research Field

Astronomy
Astronomy » Astrophysics
Astronomy » Cosmology

Researcher Profile

Established Researcher (R3)

Country

France

Application Deadline

11 Apr 2024 – 23:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

35

Offer Starting Date

1 Jun 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

A post-doctoral position is open on advance radar processing applied to asteroid internal structures tomography. The position is open at the Institute for Planetary sciences and Astrophysics of Grenoble, France (IPAG) in the frame of preparation of the JuRa/HERA science analysis.
In 2027, the HERA/ESA spacecraft will rendezvous with Didymos to deeply investigate the binary system hit by DART/NASA mission in 2022. Onboard HERA, the Juventas Radar (JuRa) will probe both Didymos and Dimorphos and provide the first direct observation of an asteroid internal structure, which is crucial to better understand and model the mechanisms of formation and the stability condition of a binary system. JuRa is a low frequency synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The instrument is developed under the scientific responsibility of IPAG which is also responsible for the data processing and signal quality: The final quality of the SAR image depends on the intrinsic performance of the instrument but also on the geometry of the observation sequence and the processing carried out on the ground.
Basic processing consists of backpropagation using different radar positions along an orbit to focus the signal and thus reconstruct radar profiles from a single measurement sequence. Advanced processing uses multiple orbits to generate a 3D image of the asteroid’s interior: the tomography methods based on Green functions allow to introduce the asteroid’s shape to improve the final images and to retrieve permittivity variations within the asteroid. Autofocus approaches are required to correct for orbital inaccuracies in multi-orbit processing. Some methods of signal processing, tomography and autofocus have already been outlined and tested on simple study cases. The task of the open position is to consolidate the processing of the JuRa/HERA instrument: validating the selected methods, optimizing the algorithms and assessing the final performances on complex and realistic scenarios.

• consolidating the processing of the JuRa/HERA instrument:
• validating the selected methods
• optimizing the algorithms
• assessing the final performances on complex and realistic scenarios.

The study will be carried out by the Planeto team at the Grenoble Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics (IPAG). The IPAG is one of the three major research units of the Grenoble Observatory (OSUG) and is attached to the CNRS Earth and Universe Institute and the Grenoble Alpes University (UGA). At IPAG, the planetary sciences team studies objects in the solar system: mainly Mars, icy satellites, asteroids, comets, TNO and meteorites. This line of research addresses the origin of organics, volatiles, salts and minerals in the context of the pre-solar legacy, the comet/asteroid continuum, the composition and evolution of the surface and shallow subsurface, and the internal structure of small bodies. The Planeto team uses radar instruments on board planetary probes to probe small bodies, satellites and planets, contributing to the entire life cycle of a space mission, from its definition to the final interpretation of the data. This group led the CONSERT radar experiment on board Rosetta (ESA) and Philae (DLR/CNES), and is currently leading the JuRa radar under development for Juventas on board the HERA/ESA mission (launch in 2024). The group is also involved in several past, present and future missions (MARSIS/Mex, SHARAD/MRO, RIME/JUICE and REASON/Clipper, etc.).

Requirements

Research Field

Astronomy

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Astronomy

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Research Field

Astronomy

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Languages

FRENCH

Level

Basic

Research Field

Astronomy

Years of Research Experience

4 – 10

Research Field

Astronomy » Astrophysics

Years of Research Experience

4 – 10

Research Field

Astronomy » Cosmology

Years of Research Experience

4 – 10

Additional Information
Eligibility criteria

• Electromagnetism
• Signal processing
• Radar
• Tomography
• Basics in object-oriented programming and parallelism in C++
• Knowledge of space mission datasets handling and orbitography is an asse

Additional comments

–

Website for additional job details

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/UMR5274-VALDEL1-034/Default.aspx

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Institut de planétologie et d’astrophysique de Grenoble

Country

France

City

ST MARTIN D HERES

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Candidat/Offre/UMR5274-VALDEL1-034/Candidater.aspx

Contact

City

ST MARTIN D HERES

Website

http://ipag.osug.fr/

STATUS: EXPIRED