The research will involve both processing 10-year SPOT-Vegetation time series (satellite data) to derive and analyse the vegetation phenology trends at global scale, and developing a forest cover change model for Central Africa. The phenology results and the GIS model outputs will be used in the vegetation model ORCHIDEE to improve our understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle and forecast its evolution under different land-use and climate change scenarios.

Supported by the Federal Science Policy Office, the PhD research will take place within the VEGECLIM project involving the Research Laboratory in Environmetrics and Geomatics (UCL, coordinator), the laboratory of Plant Ecology (UGent) and the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE, Paris). The project will provide quantitative estimates of the carbon stocks and fluxes in Africa and more particularly in central African forests.
The candidate will be :
- graduated as bioengineer or equivalent ;
- trained in remote sensing, geomatics and/or time series analysis ;
- fluent in french and english ;
- eligible and motivated to complete a PhD thesis ;
- able to actively contribute to an international research effort.

Additional experiences in remote sensing, image processing, land-cover change modelling and travels in African countries are most welcomed. Regular visits to UGent and LSCE are expected. For any complementary information, please contact Pr. Emmanuel Hanert (Emmanuel.Hanert@uclouvain) or Pr. Pierre Defourny (Pierre.Defourny@uclouvain.be)

The interested candidates are invited to send a detailed curriculum vitae and a motivation letter in a paper format and by email before the 1st December 2009 to

Prof. P. Defourny
UCL – Dpt of Environmental Sciences and Land Use Planning
Croix du Sud, 2 bte 16
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Belgium