Martin Jörg Burgdorf - Curriculum Vitae

Work experience

Present Job: MW-Luna Postdoc – Establish the Moon as Flux Reference for Climate Data From Microwave Instruments

Universität Hamburg, Meteorologisches Institut, Hamburg

• Measurements of the brightness temperature of the Moon at mm-wavelengths with instruments onboard meteorological research satellites
• Development of an empirical model of the disk-integrated brightness temperature of the Moon as a function of phase angle

March 2015 - August 2019: FIDUCEO Postdoc – Microwave Humidity Climate Data Records

Universität Hamburg, Meteorologisches Institut, Hamburg

• Recalibrating the raw data from operational microwave satellites
• Developing techniques for the validation and scientific application of the data

July 2012 - April 2014: System Engineer for METimage, a radiometer for meteorological applications

HE Space Operations GmbH, collocated at Jena-Optronik, Jena

• mathematical modelling of instrument components contributing to the overall error budgets
  • sensitivity analyses to evaluate the effects of a new optical configuration of METimage
  • breaking down the error budgets to the level of single components of the instrument
  • improving a backward model and developing a forward model of METimage
• writing, updating, and expanding documents
  • Calibration and Characterisation Plan describing the overall calibration strategy
  • Algorithm Plan describing the processing steps for turning digital numbers into physical quantities
  • spreadsheets with radiometric error budgets based on the specifications for the different subsystems
  • several technical notes about various aspects of the calibration
• concepts and strategies for the onboard calibration
  • characterising the thermal emission of the telescope optics with a deep space manoeuvre
  • monitoring the photometric stability of the solar channels with observations of the Moon
  • investigating the details of measuring non-linearities of the detectors by changing flux or integration time
• assessment of design-related activities with respect to their impact on performance requirements
  • optimum arrangement of calibration sources
  • optimum size of the deep space view port
  • pros and cons of a second deep space view
• definition and review of specifications, e g for
  • onboard calibration sources: blackbody, solar diffuser
  • temperature sensors: accuracy and position within the instrument
  • dark pixels on the detector arrays: accuracy of dark current measurement and number of elements
• supply of information needed for planning the optical and calibration ground support equipment
• discussing new results and identifying future tasks for the calibration with customers at numerous meetings

Business or sector: global space sector

April 2009 - June 2012: Telescope Scientist for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy

Deutsches SOFIA Institut, collocated at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, USA

• planning and execution of ground tests of the optical alignment of the telescope
  • verification of the alignment of the three imagers with the science instrument
  • determination of the quaternions needed for moving the telescope
• acquisition of a backup secondary mirror
  • measurement campaign of the surface properties of an existing secondary mirror using the NANOMEFOS non-contact measurement machine at TNO
  • request for quotation for a new secondary mirror with improved optical performance
• developments aimed at improving the system performance
  • test observations with the Fast Diagnostic Camera both at Lick Observatory and with SOFIA
  • determination of the signal-to-noise ratio and the accuracy of source positions achievable with the Fast Diagnostic Camera as a function of star brightness
• improvements to the software for tracking guide stars with the telescope
  • pseudocode for determining the exact position of a star in images from the guiding camera
  • analysis of pointing records in order to find the reason for sudden jumps of the telescope
• observing time estimator for a spectrometer aboard SOFIA
  • implementation of the calculation steps in a Perl program
  • tests of the web-based user interface
• contributions to the first Call for Proposals
  • extensive revisions of the text of the announcement
  • review of the technical feasibility of observing proposals received by the SOFIA Science Center
• public outreach activities for SOFIA
  • manning the booth of SOFIA at exhibitions
  • guided tours of SOFIA at its visits to two German cities
• contributions to the science case for a future instrument on SOFIA
• writing scientific articles and observing proposals, mainly about planetary atmospheres

Business or sector: higher education

February 2005 - March 2009: Project Scientist for RoboNet, a network of robotic telescopes

Astrophysics Research Institute, Birkenhead, United Kingdom

• project management
  • ensuring the successful functioning and continual funding of the project
  • primary point of contact for science users, the Liverpool Telescope Management Centre’s Operations Manager, and the Faulkes Telescopes Operations Centre
  • provision of regular reports to the Consortium Board on progress of the project against its specified aims
  • oversight and regular reporting of spend against the various lines of the RoboNet grant
• project development
  • requirements document for the archive of observations
  • organising the Calls for Proposals
  • guiding the development of autonomous observing modes
• consultant in new projects to the Science and Technology Facilities Council

Business or sector: higher education

February 2002 - February 2005: Staff Scientist for Spitzer, one of NASA's Great Observatories

Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA

• data processing for the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) onboard Spitzer
  • control of error margins in the pipeline processing chain
  • overseeing the development of software for the IRS and testing it
  • point of contact for IRS-specific design questions about the database of observations
  • research into planetary atmospheres with data from the IRS
• calibration of the IRS
  • responsible for the wavelength calibration of the IRS
  • planning of all calibration observations
  • editor of documents and handbooks

Business or sector: higher education

November 1991 - November 2001: Resident Astronomer for the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)

European Space Agency, Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and Villafranca del Castillo, Spain

• calibration and software for a camera (CAM) and a spectrometer aboard ISO
  • calibration and software for a camera (CAM) and a spectrometer aboard ISO
  • implementing command sequences for the instruments in Fortran 90
  • specification of calibration file derivation procedures
• calibration of the LWS (Long-Wavelength Spectrometer)
  • participation in tests of the instrument at the calibration facility at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
  • participation in end-to-end tests at ESTEC as the only representative of the instrument team
  • planning and implementation of calibration observations in flight
  • compiling and writing technical documents and scientific articles, inter alia on the atmospheric humidity of Mars
  • chairman of the Working Group on Spectral Matching of Infrared Spectrometers

Business or sector: international organisation

September 1990 - November 1991: External Fellow

European Space Agency, collocated at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France

• tests with CAM in the clean room of the calibration facility
• participation in the first design of Diabolo, a photometer operating at millimetre wavelengths
• astronomical research with radio observations

March 1990 - August 1990: Research Assistant (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter)

Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg

• research included tests with a variety of new detectors and read-out electronics
• education and public outreach
  • occasionally teaching the introductory course in astrophysic
  • writing popular science articles
  • guided tours for visitors of the institute

Business or sector: research organisation

Education and Training

• 1986 - 1990: Ph D - thesis title: 'A 200-Microns-Camera for an Incomplete Sky Survey With the ISO-Satellite'
  Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg
• 1981 - 1986: Diploma (master’s degree) in physics - thesis title: 'Charge Coupled Devices for a Cooled Infrared Telescope'
  Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg

Additional Information

Publications

147 publications in refereed journals, 15 of them as first author

Presentations

25 presentations at major scientific conferences

Conferences

Chair of the session on Outer Planets III at the 40th AAS DPS MEETING (14/10/2008)

Seminars

Invited seminar at Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Dorking, Surrey, UK (17/10/2006)

Invited seminar at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany (26/11/2015)

Honours and awards

Placed in the top 1% of reviewers in Geosciences on Publons’ global reviewer database, determined by the number of peer review reports performed during the 2017 – 2018 Award year

Ranked among the top 50 contract researchers (of 395) in astronomy in the UK with respect to number of refereed publications and number of citations between April 2001 and April 2006 (Astronomy & Geophysics, December 2007, Vol 48, Issue 6, appendix)

Douglas Marsh Fellowship of the European Space Agency for the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon (September – December 2000)

Memberships

American Geophysical Union

Deutsche Meteorologische Gesellschaft

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

European Astronomical Society

Société Française d'Astronomie & d'Astrophysique