News Archive
TEAGASC PhD Walsh Fellowship opportunity
Wed, 2 May 2012
Development of a satellite driven grass growth index to inform national monthly grassland production maps for Ireland
Ref Walsh Fellowship Number 2012207
There is a critical need for quantitative spatial and temporal information on land use at a national scale withinIrelandto assist with agricultural monitoring, as an input to national carbon budget reporting requirements, and to inform agri-environmental policy development. Almost two-thirds ofIrelandis under grassland, making monitoring of this land cover type of utmost importance when considering national agriculture initiatives. This project aims to develop a quantitative grass growth index, based on vegetation indices derived from optical satellite imagery, to provide a spatial dimension to established biophysical growth models used in Teagasc. The work will consist of identifying the optimal space-based vegetation index for monitoring grass growth through the year, through evaluation of different Earth Observation datasets at a range of resolutions. Field data will be collected, by Teagasc, concurrently with the satellite image acquisitions to enable calibration and validation of the satellite data and its conversion into biophysical information, and thus into a quantitative grass growth index to provide monthly estimates of grass growth.
Inter-annual and intra-annual variability acrossIrelandover the past 10 years will be explored, and the potential of determining any long term trends in amount, location or status of grassland cover will be evaluated. Recommendations will be made for the sustainability of such a monitoring system with regards to the most appropriate suite of space-borne sensors given the imminent retirement of some satellites and launch of others.
This work provides much needed and valuable information on grassland location, status and productivity for national reporting and management initiatives, and has the potential to significantly further the international body of knowledge on derivation of vegetation indices from space-borne data for grassland applications, and consequently could position Irelandas a world leader in this subject.
Requirements
Applicants should have a minimum of a 2:1 Honours undergraduate degree in a numerate discipline or equivalent, and an MSc. Experience in remote sensing, grassland science, agriculture, or computational techniques and programming would be an advantage.
Award
The award is a joint Teagasc Walsh/EPA PhD fellowship with the Geography Department, University College Cork commencing on or near 1st October 2012. The studentship comprises an annual stipend of €21,000, from which university fees (approximately €6,000 per year for EU students) will have to be paid.
The student will be registered with the UCC Geography Department but will spend 2 years in Dublin with the Spatial Analysis Unit, Teagasc and 1 year in UCC interacting with Teagasc Moorepark.
Further Information/Applications
Dr. Fiona Cawkwell, Department of Geography, UCC. e-mail: f.cawkwell@ucc.ie, telephone: +353 (0)21 490 2707
Mr Stuart Green, REDP, TEAGSAC Ashtown. e-mail: stuart.green@teagasc.ie, telephone +353 (0)1 805 9955.
Application Procedure
Applicants should send a copy of their CV, with the names and addresses of 3 referees, plus a statement outlining their academic interests and their reasons for wishing to undertake this research project to Fiona Cawkwell.
Closing date
9am Friday 1st June 2012