Experience

Research scientist for the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Reading, UK.

Abstract: My research at ECMWF was mainly focused on the SMOS project. I was responsible to develop infrastructure for SMOS data within the IFS. This is a challenging work as SMOS data has proved to be very different from any other source of satellite data, especially given a) the huge volume of of the SMOS dataset and b) the fine angular resolution of the observations. My work at ECMWF was supported by an ESA contract. In the first phase, I developed several thinning filters, I collocated SMOS observations to the ECMWF model grids, I created the interface with an external radiative transfer code in low-frequencies passive microwaves and I developed an offline suite which monitors SMOS data in Near Real Time. In the second phase I prepared the surface analysis (and in particular the soil moisture analysis) to assimilate SMOS data in the ECMWF Simplified Extended Kalman Filter (SEKF), and make it compatible with other remote sensed and conventional data. I also prepared the data to be used optimally in the SEKF. In the final phase of the investigation I studied the impact of these data in the forecast skill of surface and atmospheric variables. I also worked with the covariance matrices of observations and model background to fine-tune the SEKF and make the best possible use of SMOS data (together with other data sensitive to soil moisture) in the SEKF.  

Post-doctoral position at the European Centre for Research and Advanced Training in Scientific Computation (CERFACS), Toulouse, France.

Abstract: My research at CERFACS concerned the assimilation of streamflow and soil moisture observations for the monitoring of river flow over French river basins. In particular, I focused on upstream small basins (less than 1500 km²) where fast floods are likely to occur after significant rainfall events. Firstly, I started to assimilate systematic streamflow (or water river levels) observations at selected locations with an ensemble of rainfall-runoff hydrological models. I could not finish the second part of my project, focused on the study of the relationship between soil moisture and the calibration parameters of conceptual hydrological models, because I was recruited by ECMWF. The outcome of my work at CERFACS was twofold; I created material to train flood forecasters in data assimilation, and I developed a hydrological mock-up to investigate the benefits of assimilating streamflow observations into a hydrological model for the accurate prediction of the peak of floods.

PhD: “Remote sensing data assimilation for the monitoring of continental surfaces: Implementation over an experimental site”, Météo-France, Toulouse, France.

Abstract: The research undertaken in the context of my thesis dealt with the assimilation of remote sensing data for the monitoring of ground surface variables. In particular, I analysed the root-zone soil moisture content and the above-ground vegetation biomass. My PhD was framed in the context of the SMOSREX experimental site (as one of the experiences for feasibility studies of the SMOS mission) from the years 2001 to 2004. Firstly, I implemented and compared four assimilation methods applied to surface soil moisture observations, with the objective of correcting the possible deficiencies of the Land Surface Model of Météo-France: the ISBA model. The assimilation methods that I coded were the Extended Kalman Filter, the Ensemble Kalman Filter, the simplified 1D-VAR and the T-Variational method. Secondly, I extended the most performing method in the aforementioned comparison exercise to the joint assimilation of surface soil moisture and LAI observations. Additionally to ground observations, I produced and assimilated surface products derived from (1) brightness temperatures obtained with the LEWIS L-Band radiometer at 1.4 GHz and (2) reflectances over fallow at 5 different spectral bands among the visible, NIR and MIR domains.

Research Assistant/ PhD position at the Mathematical and Geodesy Positioning group of Delft Technical University (TUDelft), The Netherlands.

Young Graduate Trainee for the European Space Agency (ESA), at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, The Netherlands.