During my time at the NOVELTIS company (Earth observation R&D company, Labege Innopole, France), I was involved in several projects ordered by space agencies or research laboratories, and achieved by NOVELTIS. These projects were focused on satellite remote sensing for atmosphere, and for a few of them, for oceanography.

List of the main projects involved as proposal & project manager, and consortium coordinator with the customers indicated in bold:
- CarboCount – Work package on the development of CO2 – Carbon dioxode surface fluxes inverse modelling algorithm over forest areas (regional scale) and design of an optimized in situ observation system in support of local users KIC CLIMATE – LSCE
- SIROCCO – Development and assessment of CO – Carbon monoxide and CH4 – Methane retrieval algorithms through ShortWave InfraRed (SWIR) and Thermal InfraRed (TIR) spectral synergy ESA
““ Synergistic SWIR and IR retrievals of near-surface concentrations of CH4 and CO for Earth and Planetary atmospheres” was an ESA contract study (ESA contract number 4000107088) started in November 2012 and finished in December 2014. The consortium was led by …” more details here
- LOGOFLUX – Evaluation of CarbonSat performances to quantify CO2 – Carbon dioxode and CH4 – Methane surface fluxes at global, regional and local scales ESA
“LOGOFLUX (1st & 2nd project) was an ESA contract study from 2012 to 2014 and with the main objective of evaluating the green-house gas (GHG) surface flux estimate capabilities from the CarbonSat mission. The consortium was led by…” more details here
- Requirements for CO2 – Carbon dioxode monitoring by Sentinel-5 ESA
” “Requirements for CO2 monitoring by Sentinel-5” was an ESA contract study (ESA contract number 4000103801) finished in March 2012 and with the main objective of evaluating the capabilities of the Sentinel-5-UVNS sensor in a view of CO2 monitoring. The consortium was led by…” more details here
- CarboSphere – Assessment of several remote sensing observation systems to detect and quantify anthropogenic CO2 – Carbon dioxode emissions, from regional to local scales in France (orbitography analysis) Thales Alenia Space
List of the main projects involved as R&D engineer with the customers indicated in bold:
- Spectral calibration of GOSAT TANSO-FTS measurements and CO2 – Carbon dioxode total column retrieval over coincident TCCON sites CNES
- Analyses of trace gas (CO – Carbon monoxide / O3 – Ozone) impacts on temperature and H2O retrievals from synthetic MTG-IRS spectra EUMETSAT
- Compression algorithm development based on Principal Components Analysis (PCA) approach and impact analyses on chemistry satellite missions CNES – EUMETSAT
- Sensitivity analyses of IASI spectral calibration over heterogeneous scenes CNES
- Altimeter waveform simulations based on the Brown & Haynes model CNES
- Retrievals of altimeter parameters (sea surface height, sea wave height and instrument angle), using neural network algorithms, from JASON-1 measurements CNES-CLS
- Development of an ocean colour observation operator – Application to SeaWifs and MERIS missions, INSEA project European Union FP6
See paper Clive Banks et al., (2011) here
- Comparison of remote sensing altimeter measurements to in situ measurements (tide gages in Corsica) – In situ inter-calibration over remote sites from satellites tracks CNES
See paper Cancet et al., (2012) here
My engineer and external scientist colleagues during my time at NOVELTIS
Here is a (non exhaustive) list of past and present colleagues with whom I have had the pleasure and privilege to collaborate on different projects & from whom I (really) learned a lot. Since our collaborations and their work have strongly influenced the activities I currently perform, sometimes still in collaboration, I would like to acknowledge them and their work:
Dr. Pascal Prunet: Pascal has a strong expertise in Thermal InfraRed sounders (IASI), trace gas remote sensing and estimation methods for atmospheric retrievals. As leader of the group Atmospheric physics and Chemistry and then space department leader at Noveltis company during 18 years (until December 2016), he developed multiple key activities and a recognized research and development engineer team. He now works at Spascia company in Labege, France.
My initial and grateful mentor in the atmospheric trace gas remote sensing satellite field and provided me with high motivations and useful skills for taking responsibilities in scientific activity. 5 years of successful collaborations through projects at Noveltis (2008-2013).
Dr. Claude Camy-Peyret: Researcher Institut Pierre SImon Laplace (IPSL), University Pierre Marie Curie (UPMC). Molecular spectroscopy expert (e.g. H2O, O3), trace gas measurements from experiment balloons, development & validation of atmospheric radiative transfer models. Strongly involved in the atmospheric Thermal Infrared IASI mission, IASI-balloon, co-PI of the ESA Earth Explorer 2009 mission named TRAQ (TRopospheric composition and Air Quality).
Enjoyable, passionate, internationally recognized and very rigorous scientific collaborator through diverse and fruitful atmospheric projects achieved with Noveltis.
Dr. Francois-Marie Breon: Climate and remote sensing researcher at the French “Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement – Environment & climate science research laboratory” (LSCE). He has focused on the exploitation of satellite observations to better understand the Earth’s climate, its energy budget and in-depth understanding the carbon cycle. He contributed to the writing of the 5th IPCC report and the associated summary report. Convinced of the on-going warming climate process and the consequences, he is pro-active in informing public, promoting actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replacing fossil-fuel resources.
Great partner on projects related to atmospheric CO2 observation from space, either led by or shared with Noveltis, between 2010 and 2013: e.g. Requirements for CO2 monitoring by Sentinel-5, LOGOFLUX, or others (MicroCarb, GOSAT, etc…)
Dr. Olivier Lezeaux: Expert scientist in atmospheric retrieval techniques from Thermal Infrared passive sensors (e.g. IASI, MTG-IRS, MicroCarb, GOSAT). In particular, deep knowledge of variational Bayesian approach such as the Optimal estimation method (OEM), information content analysis, uncertainty characterization, and optimal spectral channel selection.
Initial inspirer for studying the atmospheric retrieval techniques, methodologies and understanding the information content of a satellite hyper-spectral measurement. Hope to reach his retrieval expertise level in the future.
Dr. Michael Buchwitz & Dr. Heinrich Bovensmann:
— To be completed soon —
Dr. Emmanuel Dufour:
— To be completed soon —
Dr. Andrzej Klonecki:
— To be completed soon —