Dr. Eng. Francescopaolo Sica

In my current position as Deputy of the Chair of Earth Observation at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich (Germany), I am responsible for the scientific management of the Earth Observation laboratory and the promotion and supervision of research projects. At the same time, I act on behalf of the professor organizing teaching activities, giving lectures and tutorials, and supervising research activities. The laboratory has as its primary target the implementation of image processing techniques for product generation from Earth Observation data, focusing mainly on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellations.  Since July 2023 I am habilitating at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich with the topic Machine Learning for Synthetic Aperture Radar Signal and Image Processing. My teaching activities include radar for remote sensing, interferometric SAR and computer vision for remote sensing. Until April 2022, I was employed at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as a Research Engineer. There, I have been working for the TanDEM-X Ground Segment, specifically for the observation scenario by contributing to the implementation of software and solving conflicting acquisition requests coming from the private and public sectors. Additionally, at the German Space Operations Center (GSOC), I supported the monitoring of TanDEM-X operations, including reporting memory usage, battery anomalies, and error-check. I was regularly involved in the design and development of satellite missions, such as ROSE-L and Harmony (phase-0 study) of the European Space Agency (ESA) as well as the Tandem-L of the DLR. For the ROSE-L mission, I was the project manager for the development of the Ground Prototype Processor (GPP). For this implementation, Sentinel-1 data have been considered as an example for the data format, interferometric properties, and L0/L1/L2 products. Furthermore, I performed research activities at the intersection of Earth Observation and Machine Learning. My area of expertise covers the entire SAR data processing chain, from image focusing and interferometric SAR processing to the generation of end-user products, including topographic models, deformation, and land cover maps. During my employment at DLR, I was appointed with the postdoctoral ESA Living Planet Fellowship. With the project HI-FIVE (High-Resolution Forest Coverage with InSAR & Deforestation Surveillance), I implemented strategies for monitoring worldwide forests through the combined use of Machine Learning methodologies and Sentinel-1 data. Finally, I have experience writing scientific proposals, such as ESA’s Future EO and the European Commission’s Horizon call. I have also worked on German national projects, such as the Innovation Fund of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, as well as Helmholtz AI projects. I regularly participate in international conferences and symposiums and actively foster international cooperation and support the Earth Observation community through my voluntary participation to the IEEE Image Analysis and Data Fusion (IADF) technical committee as Co-Chair of the Benchmarking working group.