Master's thesis “Artificial intelligence for airborne oil pollution sensor technology”

In the field of innovation, a position is now available for a master's thesis on the topic of “Artificial Intelligence for Airborne Oil Pollution Sensors.”

The Aerodata Group is represented worldwide in the field of special aviation. In addition to flight measurement systems, we also offer customized complete solutions for aircraft-based surveillance and reconnaissance with manned and unmanned systems. Our specially developed mission systems and remote sensing sensors play a crucial role in real-time situation awareness. Another focus is the development of high-performance systems for aircraft-based maritime surveillance – based on the Optimare MEDUSA® mission management system and the associated oil pollution sensors.

The Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) from Aerodata subsidiary Optimare Systems GmbH is an imaging X-band radar for maritime air surveillance. It enables cloud-independent detection – day and night – and is considered the standard instrument for airborne detection of oil spills. Currently, SLAR data is evaluated manually by trained operators. In order to reduce the workload, especially in high-demand situations, a method for AI-supported automated detection of oil spills is to be developed. This master's thesis thus contributes to improving operational safety and protecting the environment, especially the marine ecosystem.

Your tasks:

•  Research into the state of the art, in particular regarding the training of AI models with radar data and suitable architectures
• Compilation and preparation of a suitable test data set, including labeling of relevant anomalies (in particular oil spills)
• Evaluation and selection of a suitable AI model for evaluating SLAR data, including methods for detecting obviously false anomalies
• Comparison of AI-based evaluation with existing non-AI-based evaluation algorithms

• Evaluation of the overall concept and documentation of the results

   

Your profile:

•  Degree in aerospace engineering, data science, computer science, mechanical engineering, systems engineering, electrical engineering, or a comparable field of study
• High motivation to learn new topics
• Experience in building and training AI models is desirable
• Programming skills
• Communication skills, initiative, and creativity
• Good English skills