Technical support services for advanced remote-sensing products
GVM's framework programme V research activities contribute to the Space Applications Institute's global monitoring for environment and security (GMES) project. Research concentrates on the generation and exploitation of advanced algorithms for the quantitative analysis of earth observation data in support of the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, in particular with respect to the evaluation of carbon sinks in the vegetation. These algorithms lead to the quasi-operational generation of geophysical products for specific regions of interest. The present notice refers to the provision, to the GVM Unit and on the Ispra site, of advanced scientific and technical support in: Lot 1: specialized computer systems administration and networking, Sun and IBM workstations or equivalent (including clusters and multi-processor machines) running under variants of the Unix operating system, PCs running under Windows NT, or equivalent, as well as a range of applications including word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programmes, etc. Lot 2: the establishment, under the supervision of the scientific staff, of the specifications and requirements for an Oracle database system, or equivalent, capable of managing large amounts of data from a range of current and planned future satellite missions. Install and operationally maintain this database. Lot 3: implementation (professional development and coding) of state-of-the-art algorithms in ground segments and processing systems. Specifically, development and implementation will require proficiency in C language and interactive data language, processing of data in variants of the hierarchical data format (HDF) and TeraScan data format (TDF) used in remote sensing, and expertise in parallel computing using a message passing interface (MPI) on a cluster of workstations. Lot 4: scientific analysis and processing of advanced remote sensing products, including but not limited to spatial and temporal analysis, event detection, pattern recognition, and generation of suitable high-level products (Fourier and Wavelet analysis, movies, etc.). These 4 lots arise in the general framework of the Unit's commitment to deliver quantitative, reliable and accurate information on the state and evolution of the terrestrial biosphere. The GVM Unit of the Space Applications Institute of the JRC will supervise the work, which will be implemented on site.The European Commission Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (DG-JRC), Space Applications Institute (SAI) Unit: Global Vegetation Monitoring (GVM) Att: Mr Alan Belward, TP 440 I- 21020 Ispra. Fax: +39-03-32 78 90 73. E-mail: alan.belward@jrc.it