Rainfed spatio-temporal crop allocation modelling in Mediterranean landscapes at plot scale from remotely sensed land-use time series
3 years PhD position
Montpellier-France/Tunis-Tunisia
Research area and project description :
The PhD project will address the formalization of crop allocation rules in complex rainfed Mediterranean cultivated landscapes in order to explicitly represent crop allocation patterns dynamics at landscape extent and plot scale. Geo-agronomy, remotely sensed land-use time series analyses, landscape patterns analysis, multi-agents modelling will be the main disciplinary focus depending on the qualifications and research interests of the successful candidates.
The case study is the Lebna watershed (200 km²) in the Cap Bon region, Tunisia.
Qualifications and specific skills :
We expect the applicants to :
Have a strong background in agronomy at landscape scale with developed skills in
spatial/digital modelling and statistics or a strong background in digital/statistical modelling with a deep interest for geo-agronomy, both with an outstanding curriculum
Be highly dedicated, self-motivated and ambitious
Have excellent collaborative skills and an interest to work in an interdisciplinary/international context.
Place of Employment and Place of Work :
The position is based at IRD LISAH lab, Montpellier, in an interdisciplinary setting including the Lanscape team of the LISAH lab and the international NAILA lab involving IRD, IRESA and MESRS in Tunisia. Regular work journeys in Tunisia (NAILA lab, INRGREF partner, field visits to collect data) for 50% of the time are part of the employment. These labs offer an international working environment with state-of-the-art and field-trip facilities for geo-agronomy, land-use remote sensing, and spatially explicit modelling.
About the LISAH lab at IRD, the Naila lab and INRGREF :
The LISAH lab (Laboratory for the study of Soil-Agrosystem-Hydrosystem interactions) is a joint research unit with scientists from INRA, IRD, SupAgro and AgroParisTech. LISAH researches deals with hydrology, contaminants transfer and erosion in cultivated landscapes, and on the spatial properties and temporal changes of the landscapes, in order to address the many challenges relative to water and soils in cultivated landscapes. The PhD position will be hosted in the “Landscape” team (namely the “Spatio-temporal patterns of soils and cultivated landscapes” team).
The NAÏLA lab is an international laboratory devoted to the management of water resources in rural areas in Tunisia. In Tunis the PhD student will be hosted at INRGREF (National Research Institute for Rural engineering, Water and Forestry), which is one of the Naila lab partners. The INRGREF contributes to the development of the research policy in the areas of water, forests and rural engineering in order to address the issues related to water productivity, natural resources preservation, and climate changes.
Start date is by 1st October 2018.
The call is open from 1st January 2018 to 1st June 2018 at 12:00.
